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This writing was accepted for publication in the 108-page perfect-bound ISSN#/ISBN# issue/paperback book “Open Your Eyes” cc&d, v325 (the September 2022 issue) Order the 6"x9" paperback book:

Order this writing in the book Unable To Escape It the cc&d September-December 2022 magazine issues collection book		get the 422-page September-December 2022 cc&d magazine 6" x 9" ISBN# perfect-bound paperback book:

the claws and thorns are coming out

Linda M. Crate

i am done being the pretty doll,
you’re going to learn that feminine
doesn’t mean fragile one way or another;

the claws and the thorns are coming out
and i’ve fashioned my tongue into a sword—

you wanted me to lose myself in the lyrics
of society and who they wanted me to be,
but i decided to be myself instead because i
was born to be me not another cog in an
endless machine that doesn’t profit me;

you only wanted my velvet, my petals,
and the sweetest fragrance of my flowers;

but i am more than dreams and sunlit afternoons—

i am also chaos and dark nights sometimes
with kind moons and other times with unkind
moons whose tides would drown you,

i am feral and wild;
should you respect me and give me space
then i will do the same for you—

if you try to cage me in your expectations
then i have no problem wounding your
ego and ripping it to shreds because my heart
will not house space at the table for those who
seek to destroy me and my dreams.

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