I pray for a merciful God

One who might taste passion as it seeps from my cracked skin

And weaves itself through my unbudging veins–

For girlhood is as much desire as it is dissatisfaction 

It is the peony juice of a ripe and white cherry

It is the sticky fuzz of a tainted peach

Girlhood is the amber stains that caress my fingertips

As my hungry stomach forces my hands into starvation

I suck the pomegranate dry as an animal would

But to be a girl is to always thirst for more

The sap of that sickly pomegranate reminds me of what girlhood has always been–

An endless craving for fulfillment 

Girlhood is the belief that love can be nothing less than vulgar

To detest love as it sinks its serrated teeth into the ground

And hums

A most morbid hum

As it thrives off of the wilted soil

Girlhood has birthed a creator within me

I have carved my heart empty

I have fattened up on answers and clarity

For girlhood is a silent prayer–

Merciful God,

Forgive the fruits I have birthed from an unknowing womb

I am an unending hope for love

For girlhood is to make due 

But to long

Longing is the poisoned food of girlhood