fear and rage as raw as pain

dwell  within the devil’s jungle

 I was born of wicked waters

quaking in her red lagoon

cast away from ivory towers

stained with pearls of misery

wild blood

burns in my hands

 unbound by heaven’s harmony

now

with fists that throb and howl

I will strike

for I am free.

-“Birth” by Angie Hoover-Hillhouse

Artwork by Deborah Stevenson:

 http://www.etsy.com/shop/deborahstevensonart