she flies                                                    original painting by Georgia O'Keefe

by JOHN YATES

flying

on broken wing

flutter of deep

wounds but

strangely

grinning

eyes like

bright stars

she knows

she is dying

shattered angel

who loves life

remember

pretty little

girl, fucked

and fractured

consider

her broken smile

chipped teeth

twisted pelvis

there was

her father

big mean man

then the others

she was

thrown on beds

fucked hard

beaten, crushed

one day

she saw her

own reflection

her sweet dream

and now

she flies free

on clouds of

her own longing

and now

her dreams

of love are

skin on skin

and now

her body

moves as

softly as silk

and now

what was

darkness

becomes light