and i had begun to be a woman again

a real woman

with real hands

and real eyes fixed on real nothingness

and along came a name

as real as a pair of socks

as real as a scab

as real as a walk

through a very real park

and so i became less of a woman

the snake rose from the ashes

a snake as real as a bird as real as a woman

who is no longer a woman

or a snake

or a bird

and so i became as real as hunger