Pride

Hungry for love,
I eat what you have left me -
like a hungry child who was sent to bed
without food -
who scurries under the dining table to find
a tiny morsel to wet her lips -

Hungry for love,
I swallow the tiny pieces whole-
and wish pieces would satiate me
my belly grumbles-
I am too ravenous for crumbs
but too proud to beg for more -

pride is a lonely place for a woman -
a woman
should
laugh at insult
smile at despair
love at nothing

My heart -
broken
for a million years
entered thousands of temples
that were only
stables dressed as temples

My eyes -
tearing
for a million years
etched a revine on a face
that was only
masked in stone

Hungry for love,
I remain a proud woman -
and all I taste are
the feelings I swallowed -
bitter sour tablespoons
dried of syrup

Hungry for love,
I stand with my crown -
although it
claws my head with thorns-
wraps my body with vines
holds my heart in a vice

Too proud to be freed.