I am a hard hooved hussy
I did not get this way overnight
I put in weeks and months and years
Of walking over cement shards and broken bricks
Charred conversations and wrecked relationships
That turned the soles of my feet into blisters
And the blisters into calluses
Then turned the calluses into hooves
And hardened them

I am a wide waisted wench
I did not get this way overnight
My willowy twig figure has become an oak stump
I have eaten my way through too many depressed days
And too many neurotic nights
That turned my waist into a wasteland
A wide wasteland

I am a mean metallic mama
I did not get this way overnight
I boast a buxom bronze breastplate
To hide my heart
I wove metallic mesh
To blunt the blades of baited abuse
I sewed a silver shawl
To shield my shoulders from shattered trust
So no one suspects that beneath the shielding sheen
There stands a woman
A vulnerable woman

I am a sleek and sensuous seeking sister
I did not get this way overnight
When the things and the people who I depended upon left me
When they were no longer there
Then I was forced to depend upon myself
And I learned to depend upon God
I found beneath the fear
A full fledged ferocious faith
So I took a deep breath
And whispered a prayer
I released the armour
To fall to the ground
I took a step forward and realized
That my hooves
Are better
Than feet