When I reach for a thing

And my hand hits the mirror 

I gotta remember the object’s closer

Than it appears

There’s something here

I feel it between us

I’ve seen it in your eyes

Maybe I’m

Closer than I ought to be

But there’s a part of me

Dancing in your fire

Dance with me

Can’t you see

A part of you

Dancing here with me

They tell me at school to be sweeet

And how I oughta be

If I want to get someone to like me

That I’m a part of a civilized tribe

But there’s a part of me

That wants to build a fire

And then hold their feet to it

Pull their toenails out by the root

Eradicate them from my mind

For not liking me the way I am 

For telling me how sweet I oughta be

When I look at myself in the mirror 

I see the war

I see it clearer than the letters in their books

And the dirty looks I get when I’m not

What they call sweet

I’ve got your picture tucked into the frame of my mirror

The regal headdress

The savage seriousness

On your face

I brush my hair

Maybe I’m

Closer than I ought to be

But there’s a part of me

Dancing in your fire

And there’s a part of you

Dancing here with me

-jenn