I kneel and open myself                          wider.

Spread arms, unwind ribbons           of femininity, and show her 

my buzzcut. Murmuring,                her mouth tries to wrap itself 

around syllables,                              but the r’s get caught in the overbite.

I want to kiss her eyes                         and make her understand, but how do I tell her 

about the hours I spend in reflection            trying to funhouse my curves flat? 

A body is still a body when split     by time.

I will not leave you behind

underneath the handmedown polkadot dress

in the buttercups. Sophie, I need you to listen

to the spiderwebbing glass-crack spreading through my center. Press ear 

to time bomb tick and tell me you don’t hear the girlhood

being devoured.

She stares my body through             and when it hits her

everything kaleidoscopes.               She pounces,

leeches limbs                      lemonade sticky for my name and I let her 

take it. I promise her everything                 she doesn’t know.

One day, Sophie, you’ll cut yourself  

free from fractured mirrors

on the inbetween. I am not leaving you 

in the dark with an inch worth of light between the door.

I promise you a body to belong in.