there are witches among us
created – not born
witches are everywhere
hag, witch, sorceress
gnarled hands and
Emerald green complexion
beware Emerald City
haunted by a witch
of the east, of the west
never the fairest
playing dirty
with dark magic
witches are
everywhere, beware
beware
that’s what they say
they who burned the witch
they who burned the woman
healing,
promiscuous and powerful
her touch a gentle caress,
a breeze that signals change
her words a strong resistance,
steel before the welding
melting
woman of the commons
burn her
disempower
disenfranchise
power in the hands of woman
takes power from
the oppressor
behind the curtain
who cloaked oppression
in shrouds of justice
saviorism
they who burned the witch
burning
constricting and suffocating
hands wrapping around a delicate throat
a will that must be choked out
a being
womanhood
autonomy
in a refusal to bear children
in taking pleasure in their bodies
a woman’s body
rather than
pure, vessel
a fulfillment
a filling of sustenance
through sensation
they become — witch
crone, witch, enchantress
strip of power
of clothes, of skin
melt flesh and bones — dissolve
humanity
human
woman
burn her
at the stake — at the state
ban bodies
restrict, while
painting the picture of
the nuclear family
perfect wife, perfect life
perfect lie
a lie she must refuse
in order for rebirth
in refusal, a becoming
if she is witch, we are witch
the witches are us
the queer, the sapphic
the feminist
unconventional and powerful
in our refusal
we become — witch
beware
