the scorpio

(2023)

the toughest armour – 
Beware the sting,
the claws alone:
“Your distance keep”,
buried in the raging sand,
she sits contented, seethes;

until the rain patters the grain
and she emerges from the heat – 
basking in the gentle wash,
it melts into the cracks
of the defence you thought
her fort.
the fire that forever burns beneath
cools, unclenches its gnashing teeth;

just for a moment, 
she sits as flesh,
soft, and kind;
and so, so sweet.

Image: ‘Scorpion (Stranger Than Paradise),’ Stephanie Schneider, 1998.