Draconic

Draconic

I am not a dragon
and so,

I am not breathing fire-
I am choking on it,

on the moments that pass too quickly
to be raged at

on the stumbling indecision of my own
tongue, unprepared to strike, unable to command
the fire that is my duty to my sisterhood
and so,

I am unable to go back, to find action
in time, to punish the wicked knights

who stick their swords into the bellies of women,
not beasts.

This piece was previously published in the University of Waterloo's HeForShe 2019's "Ally" Anthology