Fablemaker

She builds them from bones and blank stares.

A mother who carved stories

into her daughter's skin

so she'd remember who to be.

Fablemaker, liar, saint,

she kneels in the ash

and names the sparrow king.

She gives him a crown of teeth.

What is a girl but a fable?

What is she to do but survive?

What is a body but a tale

that grows claws in the dark?

And when they ask her for a real story,

she hands them a mirror.