Second Skin

by Katharine Izard 

 

I feel more comfortable in my second skin 

The one you call dirt 

I call it earth 

 

I love the feel of the earth, smearing it along my body 

 

Through the earth I can feel my mother and the mothers who came before her The women I know, the women I still have yet to learn about They also made a second skin of earth 

Without the earth we are 

 

Naked 

 

The earth, our protector 

The moisture that gives us strength 

I have a tendency now to feel my anger 

I don’t bury it beneath the earth anymore 

 

I light it on fire 

 

I’m getting comfortable with the burn 

Feeling it coat my muscles, wrapping me securely 

Red is the color of my earth 

Now it is the color of my fire 

 

I am ready