Lioness Tales

“I’m strong,” she writes.

“I’m Helen Reddy on steroids,
and this lion roaring off my skin?

It’s got muscle.

It’s toned and tanned and acerbically
aerobicized, and yeah…

Leo’s cut.

I’m cutting,
and sharp,
and biting,
caustically inviting,
lying…

Low in the grass,
lurking,
loitering,
inventing prey.

That one?

Easily picked off.

Spinning class
out my ass,
forgetting my past
is easy,

when I can taste blood.”

“I’m strong,” she tells herself again.