Remember, your claws do not dull when you starve.
Your sight weakens, your muscles,
your movement slows,
Not the sharpness of your claws.
Their strength is in sharpness,
so your strength is in sharpness.
Are you lonely?
Because you crawl
Are you hungry?
Because you smell the meat in concrete
Because you find the cream in leaves
Never.
What did we do wrong?
Where did we go wrong?
Ever.
to have us
she had to harm you
a boy child
and wonder always why
we made music
as we tenderly stroked her face
we intervened only when
she refused to feed you
in the end
she would have let you
touch her to eat
though it was too late
when she could again see others
when finally we saw her
when the sorrow seeped through her
so now you know
you were born
weeping like your mother
And what is salt?
My friend,
You dancing with me naked
we speaking of what is common
we the lone warriors
fighting for the chest
what it keeps
what it carries.
I love you right now
I must say
you are helping me be more like my flesh
in this worry
you make me see dancing naked
is what we all do
every time we open our mouths.
Salt, and to forgive
we who do not want
our own donated hearts.
Marream Krollos is currently completing my Ph.D. at the University of Denver in fiction and English literature. She has an M.F.A. from the University of Colorado in poetry.