“Cat Calls of the Concrete Jungle”

Fully weened

A love from a mother I had to grieve

Do I need someone elses light to shine?

Grown up state of mind

Am I free from the perverseness that made me cry?

Or have I aged into the twisted nature of man

Writing my age on my wrists as a warning sign

“14”

I was a child bride

Wedded on Lexington Avenue, each subway platform and train car

Hisses, grunts, and tongue smacks

Old, young, rich, poor, black, white, brown men

Their calls brazing me into the benevolent beast I am today

As I peer into their eyes they descend to the scum from which they were born

Reflecting shame unto the creature

I, the Phoenix, cannot be caught by the low leopard