Burning by Amanda Kay (16, California)*

melt your dreams into hard liquor,
daughter. feel it burn your throat, dance
along to the rhythm. we don’t follow
rules. not here.

trace your hands over your body, feel
the curves and crevices, taste the air.
smooth and sensual. watch the stars in
the night sky implode, you might
not see them for a while.

---

condemnation has become a female
quality, our birthright. dance anyways,
feel the power burgeoning from your lips,
you are a goddess.

today, we don’t follow rules. we won’t follow rules. not
when we’ve grown out of them, blossoming into
a flower, petals extending upwards towards the stars. taste
divinity on your tongue.

tonight, watch me revel in sin. watch me burn.
watch me be lightning.
​
today, we will burn. we are not the result of other’s expectations.