is alive.

skin smells of store bought soap,
citrus and lye shipped from london
tangled in her

hair. she breathes softly,
her lips remain a limp line,
yet you can see the life in her

eyes. she doesn’t interrupt,
words fall out gently
like carbon pushed out of your

lungs. remember,
there are stories inside this woman,
treasured moments forever engraved in her

mind. waves from the seas
she wants to travel wash over the globe,
coursing through her

veins. she makes aspirations accomplishments,
dreams about the stars,
yet forms a constellation of

bones. a jigsaw of
beauty and power and strength
that fit together to form the

woman.