by Parker Riann Flynn

there is a future / in which / i step out of my womanhood / shed it /

like a too-small skin / leave behind / some glossy exoskeleton / for

someone to find / under the scrub / a relic for / someone else’s windowsill /

sun-pierced & crumbling / these things always break apart in the light / break /

my womanhood like / a fever / shed/ this womanhood / make/ a break for it / lift /

my womanhood from / this body / like a curse / but god / has nothing to do with it /

here, a garden / is just / a garden / full of life / empty of metaphors / the paradise / does not end / at the gates / no borders / & nowhere to be cast out from /

because / there is no “out” to come of / there is just / all this freedom / no other / world / but the otherworld / ever-becoming / and dream-cusp’d / and what of me /

my body in this garden / freshly shorn / and sacred / left / ineffably glistening / holding all of this fear.