little feral girl

Crayola face paint
Smeared across dirty cheek bones,
Angular chin jutting up and out
with defiance.

No taller than the shin bone
of the woman you’ll become,
You are precious in your ferocity.

Ragged brown bark hugging
the bird bones of your
arms and legs
Knobby knees and elbows
Scrapped and scabbed
Grit, stained in the
wrinkles of your
small and delicate joints

Reedy voice piping on a shrill growl
I just want to be alone
You wave a spear, skinny
and whip-thin as your waspish
tongue,
making faces in rebellion of
the passersby.

little feral girl
so fierce and so fragile
In this moment,
You are perfect.