5/30 Call Her Kat
From another of Rache's Prompts:
The children stand around
scamper out of the bushes like
that’s where they call home
like territory invaded
curious bobcats
lumbering, circling
Little Erin pretends she’s still
playing with the stick and the dirt
and all the kingdom between
sitting bare-thighs to the concrete like she
hasn’t discovered modesty
the leader of the circling group
stands bipedal
dirty blonde hair
hair matted like she’ll grow up
to Santa Cruz dreads
says, you a boy?
Little Erin stops studying the group
from the sides of her eyes
looks direct
wide-eyed and hurt,
No, I’m a girl.
whats your name?
Erin
thats a boys name
your a boy
the rest of the group has caught
on to today’s insult
scraped shins and scabbed elbows
threaten
the circle tightens
your a boy look at your hair its short like a boy
boy boy boy your a boy
Little Erin, she tries not to cry
tries to reason
but the pack smells fear, grows larger
yellowed claws splitting dirty cuticles
speech more growl and grumble
she didn’t mean to.
didn’t call the shadows from the trees
didn’t ask the dark to
squeeze the little bobcats’ hearts
pop
one by one
pop pop
their tanned and tiny bodies dropping into the mist
pop poppoppop
barely visible, pile of limbs and tangles of hair
each mouth gaping like the molars, their last threat
Little Erin’s tiny pink and pouty mouth
hangs open
hair pushes out her follicles
falls gently about her waist, so much smaller than
widening come-hither hips
breasts burst out of her chest, tearing
cleavage into her Strawberry Shortcake shirt
her name clatters to the ground, Little Erin
call her Kat