Shapeshifter
- Traci P Cook
- Jun 22
- 2 min read
She wanted to yell out, “ I am on fire!”
The light of love was not recognizable in her spirit’s eye. The void cut repeatedly and rapidly at
her skin, leaving deep welts, scars unseen by passersby. The burning hives that she clawed to
keep the itch from growing and spreading, haunted her from the inside out. The pain penetrated deeply and yet the dark melanin of her skin hid the red fiery patches.
Her soul’s pain was a hemorrhaging cacophony, dissonant and strident, atonal to some and
satisfying to others, the troubled users and takers that they were in her life. Her resolute beauty of harmonious sound was yet hidden from the righteousness of the world she sought.
She had forgotten, but once knew that her soul could be filled, her heart could be burning, fiery
and passionate without pain; her smile could be bright and inviting like the warmth of the sun.
She knew she could share the timidity of her touch, wispy like the wind, and use the pensive
gaze of her alluringly almond shaped eyes to release her deepest fears of being alone; she
knew she could summon her earthy mothering, entangled in her long lithe limbs, slender legs,
fingers and toes to love herself as much as she loved others. She knew she could see every
part of herself and yet she hid away, unnoticed for who she truly was. Until now.
She wanted to yell out, “I’m on fire!” “My heart will soon explode! The sweltering heat is too
much.” Not being seen and not being felt and not being heard and not being known for who she
truly was had hollowed out her soul and created a void in her spirit long enough.
It was not enough to feel the pangs of desire. The heat had to escape and the fire be released.
And so she began to disrobe. Soon the fiery welts appeared. It was as if her skin were
translucent and the hive markings were etched in blood. She looked burned on the outside but
her soul was healed. She wrapped her skin in cooling gauze and let the air soothe her entire
body.
She wanted to yell out, “I’m here!” Her scaled hives fell away scattered about around her feet.
She stepped out of the shelled space and whispered to herself as she floated away, “I
remember now. I am home."
-Shapeshifter.
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