Geography

her legs are at a rock concert, but the top of her is at the opera
her stomach’s stuck in the fall of New York
her eyes are swimming countless hours of a childhood summer
her ears are aboard the U.S.S. Dallas
her spine’s just arrived at Whispering Oaks
the back of her head is laying bricks
while her toes taunt evolution
and her left thumb makes a break for it
her first two chakras are lost in the woods making their way to grandma’s
her tongue is busy making pot pies
while her teeth collect dust in a box in Russia (Stalin never being able to believe for sure)
and part of her heart, yes, is in San Francisco

passing

indomitable woman
fourteen and talking to God
your shield: cloth
your weapon: voice
your citadel: the linked arms of the women around you
the indomitable women
marching into their daily war,
their afternoon battle,
their nightly siege
their ever encounter
your steady stance
of heart-born knowledge:
that wasn’t all you were going to be