izzy

She feels good about the fact she can fight. It’s like the number one best thing she knows how to do and it makes her untouchable. She can run, too – really fast, but she thinks when the time comes, she’d prefer to fight. The streets at night are an invitation as well as a threat. Whatever she’s wearing is a threat and an invitation. Fists like thorny rosebuds waiting to bloom.

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sarah

I am practicing smiling like a shark
deadening my eyes, growing my pupils
black and fat and matte
I am circling smaller and smaller
around a coin on the floor
getting the turns tucked in tight
I am holding my breath in the bath
my neck muscles twitch
ready to let the gills split the skin

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