Life

by Piper Zoe

Tangled up in you
Our muscles pulse as one

One being, alone in the universe
Our motion seeds fate

Life begins

My heart is beating
But I only hear yours

My heart, your heart
And an echo is heard

Life begins

My body changes
Filled with your passion

And I am bound to you
As you are to me

Life begins

Time is forever
But only a moment has passed

You look at me, your eyes deep
And I know life has begun

History of a Woman

by Dorothy Segovia

On the eve of your suicide
remove embarrassing things such as
the evidence of your masturbation,
the pages of swear words written for your mother,
the discovery of hatred for your drunken father,
and the lines of scribbled gibberish
in the attempt to pull yourself
through your dark tunnel of pain.

On the eve of your suicide
scrub the soot from the poison candles
off your bathroom walls.
Wipe that filthy mark off the closet doorjamb:
The imprint of your open and desperate hand
clutching as you leaned in
to ask the paper wishing fairy
for a partner, a lover
or just someone safe to share your bed.

On the eve of your suicide
check for visible signs of unfinished work.
Destroy the projects that, if completed
would have been It,
the key to your salvation.

Imagine the old heads shaking sorrowfully,
teeth rattling in the skull:
Rattling for you
the one expected to rise like a phoenix from the perfumed ashes
of witch burnings,
rapes, mental institutions,
and long slow deaths by silence.

Imagine the teeth
rattling for you,
the one who looked like Lupe,
the one who could have made it
if you had only endured the pain
a moment longer.

I am a Lady

by Tymeka Coney

In my femininity, in my virginity
In my tranquility, in my serenity
I am a lady
In my mystery, and in my privacy
I am a lady
In my confidence, in my arrogance
In my humbleness, in my opulence
I am a lady
In my boldness, in my coldness
In the sway of my hips,
In the lick of my lips
I am a lady
In my intelligence, in my innocence
I am a lady
In my quietness, in my shyness
I am a lady
In my beauty, in my nudity
I am a lady
Don't try to sway me, betray me, portray me
But embrace me, appreciate me.
Although I'm not like every one
I'm one in a million
Once twice three times a lady.
Not the lady and the tramp or the lady that sings the blues
More like first lady to you
Capital L-A-D-Y
I am a LADY