[panther]

for Emma Pérez

i never had this name for myself not
until you sent me that image and i
knew it was true i have been hunting
them i will always be hunting them
this is my nature

i have been called poet i have been
called woman i was born mortal born
defenseless i named myself hunger
while i was still learning loss
learning grief this is my nature

they flee they scream screech
whimper in my grasp they are warm
and wriggling between my jaws
because i woke hungry in the night
this is my nature

what am i without heat without
muscle what am i without hunger
while i am hungry i am alive hunger
is the proof that i am not dead yet
this is my nature

how do you think i survived i was
hungrier than the others not smarter
not stronger not faster only more
desperate and i would not give up
this is my nature

i let death run with me i would not
run from it better said death gave me
few choices and i would not run
from it but i would run and i run this
is my nature

who names me hunter knows my
nature