Interviews With Renegades   Lilith:  Off the top of my head,            I’d say I liked the place at first            Perhaps a little too leafy            But with a decent produce section.            It was him that put me off            Chasing me,            Pointing that sorrowful thing at me            Trying to grab,            Threatening to “put me in my place”            So I split.            Tried to grow giant papery wings,            Tiny, barbed horns Spots for camouflage And almond eyes flashing beneath the thorn bushes.            But I could still hear.            It rang in my newly pointed ears:            the scribbling of hate notes            into the aching bark of trees,            Every whisper into the minds of beasts            As I wandered by the gates            On my way to work.            Through the lonely dust of the real world.   Eve:    I was so hungry.            (Not like he noticed anyway)            He spent his mornings playing king of the jungle            Making leopards and giraffes play fetch            Angry that he didn’t have the guts            To take the first taste.                 I needed to know.            Needed to feel the sweetness            Dribble down my chin.            And it was worth it            Even if it meant a lifetime            of “See what you made me do!”            And oh, the exhilaration            The grit of sand and pointed stone            Biting my feet as we fled            The endless sky beyond the stifling green            The squeeze of his hand            And his voice in whisper-“I’m frightened.”   Pandora:   Fire, Fire, Fire!                  He had to burn everything                  But wouldn’t let me touch                  So I flipped the lid- mine too                  Sweet music of the screams                  That poured through the emptiness                  Tiny claws                  Left ribbons of scarlet                  Pulsing from the skin                  I thought had become lifeless                  The exquisite and agonizing beauty                  of the distorted faces                  That engulfed me                  And disappeared into the night                  Only to spread and return                  In an eternal wave.

Old Lady   I don’t wanna sit in a rickety rocker knittn’ booties and toilet paper cozies ‘till my hands and fingers twist up like ginger roots.   I don’t wanna dress proper Squeeze my prunish lumps into some sweat-stained, peachy girdle Pack myself in like a damn sausage I wanna let my flesh swing, wag, droop dance on its own ‘till it stops wrigglin’ for good and they box me up tight.   Ain’t gonna cut my hair short and neat Perm it so tight, colour it so it looks like some blue helmet. Gonna grow it, braid it hang it ‘round my shoulders Let it slither down my back My own personal python   Ain’t gonna wear no glasses Don’t want no eyes like a frog Gonna feel my way through town Listen to my whistles bouncing from parking meters Let my hands wander off on their own for a while, Catch warm tongues of passing pooches Squeeze juicy bums of young men.   No way I’ll be caught cooing Tellin’ fluffy stories to my grandkids ‘bout circus bears or fair maidens Gonna have them dance ‘round me, Screamin’ and gigglin’ So I can catch the sweet-smellin’ air rushin’ off their nearly-new skin.   Gonna go when I’m good and ready Not gonna dry up in some hospital Just crawl into bed with a mickey of gin, Pickle myself Save the undertaker the trouble Leave just enough in the bottle for those stayin’ behind Then I’m gonna slip out, dance off to where my joints can’t get sore no more

A Wedding Song   Do not marry me in white. Do not dress me as a dollop of whipped cream soft, curving but mostly air and void in the middle. Do not bleach me, a blank slate of crepe de chine, my face erased with a veil, white gloves concealing my talons, Puffed-marshmallow sleeves To disguise the bulge of my arms and shoulders.   Wed me in crimson bright and bloody as the contents of my veins, and I will beat with passion like a heart Flame-orange with freckled lilies Screaming delight in my hair as I burn my way to the altar.   Say "I do" to me in violet, velvet ribbon and bells, chasing behind me like tentacles, waving and singing my arrival at the carnival.   I may be joined in black and all that will have died will be my loneliness. I will hide in my shadow Allowing only you to peer inside.   But not in white. White is for nothingness Be it disguised as ivory, bone or cream White is empty space, Begging to be filled.   I will marry you Bursting with every hue Reveling not in what is to be painted on But in what refuses to be dulled.

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