Labyrinth Daughters

By Jennifer Crow

Blood-stained, charging

barefoot across cool stone,

our daughters have torn

the bull-headed monster

limb from limb

and, emboldened,

search the maze to its end

for a way into the world.

We birthed them in sorrow,

faces hidden from gods and men,

but we knew, even as

the seeping stumps

of our tongues spat copper

and salt, we might find freedom

in their fierce cries.

A tangle of walls keeps

us fastened in place, but they

never accepted our limits.

*

Shy and nocturnal, Jennifer Crow has rarely been photographed in the wild, but it’s rumored that she lives near a waterfall in western New York. You can find her poetry on several websites and in print venues including Asimov’s Science Fiction, Uncanny Magazine, and Mythic Delirium. She’s always happy to connect with readers on her Facebook author page or on twitter @writerjencrow.