Why I am Afraid

WHY I AM AFRAID Lorelei Williams Because I will not bleed again Because I remember too much Because this tattoo stings Because he will never be man enough Because I love him anyway Because there's another cunt on his tongue Because I swallow Because I have no mask, no umbrella Because my skin is stretching tighter Because my belly is full ofsilverfish Because the ghosts cough in my blood Because the birds keep bringing babies Because I do not want to be a mother yet Because my amens echo Because my hands do not obey Because he will go to war Because I will be pregnant at the funeral Because his bones won't walk me home Because my eyes are dry Because this water breaks Because I do not know how it ends [Meridians:/eminism, race, transnationalism 2001, vol. 1, no. 2, p. 208]©2001 by Wesleyan University Press. All rights reserved. 208 ...