Damage
written by: Imogen Arate
@ImogenArate
I have talons that would
shred your face into slivers
You better show respect
learn your place in this world
you think you’re on top of
before it whips around
and ejects your ass into
the freeze of deep space
and you fissure into the fragments
you always try to reduce others
Little brain and big ego mix
like cement and broken glass
Shards jagged poking
their sharp ends to cut flesh
until my steel arm razes your
unwieldy appendages to free
the crazed-claws’ trapped catch
Imogen Arate is the Executive Director of Poets and Muses, which hosts a podcast that showcases contemporary poets from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. She served as a national-level poetry judge at the National Federation of Press Women's 2021 and 2022 Communications Contests. Her writing has been published on four continents.
