kin by Isabella Melians (16, Florida)

"The Ancestor" by Leonora Carrington

and at that moment, 
the beasts of His making 
clawed and stumbled out of the shadows 
pools of darkness bleeding into every inch of their eyes 
mouths upturned in a gruesome snarl, drops of saliva falling staggeredly from cracked lips
tails dragging limply behind them, leaving trenches in the dampened soil
sharpened talons bit into the earth, 
like they had a personal vendetta against mother nature 
or the earth upon which they stood 
      or me

---

so as the moon dripped its iron blood 
i focused on the twinkling stars, on the steady rhythm of their light 
i focused on the sound of cicadas, the humid air kissing my skin, the scent of pine needles above me 
i focused on everything except the things 
for if I were to die, 
i would prefer to die surrounded by beauty 

wasn’t it such a strange thing, 
when their talons released their lethal clutch on the earth, 
when they sat so patiently upon the dewy grass, 
when blackened eyes mirrored my russet own, 
when a single word fell from their daggered jaws. 

wasn’t it strange 
when they looked at me 
and called me 
Sister

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