Taste

We all learn 

we are all folded like origami 

by the hands of society 

we all are pressed like citrine

or amethyst in the earth 

by the cultural pressures

that surround us 

like a great sea.

I can’t always tell

what is part of me

and what the patriarchy 

has written 

into the code that runs 

this update to my software

it’s been insidious 

from the beginning.

I know that inside me

there is a piece of the program 

that teaches me to flee

through the trees

that teaches me to yield

when the wolves are 

close about me

I recognize the flutter 

in my throat 

when adrenaline 

wafts through my veins

and my heart 

runs with my feet.

Nature can be cruel

but it isn’t bad

this may be bad

it may be a slow 

poisoning of my survival 

but it’s been cleverly done

so I can’t untwist it

from the essence 

of who I am

it has grown into me

like scar tissue across a wound.

Always loving wolves

is like loving fast cars

you are looking for the rush

and hoping that 

you’ll be one of the few

that isn’t called on

to pay the price 

for your

taste.