violet lightning strikes across

her hips and bolts down her

thighs; digs itself into her fleshy

earth. purple skidmarks on

untainted land. crimson cracks

in a sea of sleek, slippery skin.

red hail pours itself onto her

cheeks and forehead and

nose and chin and chest.

the fiery ice plants its seed

under her surface and grows

into a swollen scarlet forest.

she heard somewhere that

retinoid and benzoyl peroxide

will dull the lightning and melt

the hail until she is clean

again. until her earth heals

Itself. until she stops breaking.

but the most vivid life grows

after stormy purges, and hail

quenches the thirst of childhood.

she knows that divine hell

is on the staircase from holy

earth and demonic heaven.

sometimes she lies alone

at night, feeling the center

of her world pulsate underneath

her fingertips. reminding

herself that there is beauty

in natural disasters