Sunday, January 26, 2020

No Time for Nonsense

She came ashore
from the wild ocean
glistening with sea salt

"She looks so pretty,"
they all said
"her outfit is just so cute!"

And they missed the point entirely

Cute? Pretty?

She is an ocean warrior
a fierce guardian of life and the briny deep
she is half-wild and fearless
determined
bad-ass
bruised-knuckled
scarred and indomitable

she has written books in blood
and taught classes in caves
she has mentored students
and saved lives
she has plunged her feet
thigh deep into muck and mire
and dug into the bottom of the ocean
with a shovel and her bare hands

She is a sweat-stained stone bearer 
and a work-hardened master of her own destiny
she has wrestled with tentacles and grabbers
and not all of them in the wildern waters

She is strong and storied
undaunted and shark-dangerous
bold
wise
savage
strange
barbaric
heavy with rage and rebellion
and dangerous as a rip tide
and so
when she swims to shore
from months of world-changing work
don't you dare 
don't you DARE
lead with
"she looks pretty"
and
"what a cute outfit"

She is a spear bearer 
with no time for nonsense

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