Huntress

I hunt 

neither men

nor birds 

not even fish

fall beneath my spear

all that 

I have loved

have come willingly 

into my arms 

I have not needed

to whisper incantations

I have not wrested 

them from their space

I have endured

like the stone 

at the foot 

of the mountain 

like the snail 

curled 

on its leaf bed 

like the cormorant 

falling from the sky

you have been told

stories of tombs

which seal the sleeper

forever in their depths

but those stories 

are the chains 

the patriarchy 

has forged

that women may be fed

over and over 

to the dragons

of the hour