Widow is an irrelevant and dried up term -a woman

Forgotten

Decrepit

Unhinged

And impossibly infirm

Widow is a word for a

Shrill

Repulsive

Lonesome

Crone- haunting the belfry

Bereft

A tea-stained bag

Of rattling bone

A widow is not slick, salty blood-

Drenched lips

Aching breasts

Iron thighs

The luxury

Of full, swinging hips

A widow is not heat

Bright,

Candied,

Head on fire

Body dripping sex

Like flowers ooze syrup

Sprouting stems so fine

They conduct their own choir

The folk tale widows of my childhood

Those ruined,

Miserable banshees -nothing

Like me

Fresh tart, flesh ripe, bulging

And wonderfully complete

Yet folks still call me widow,

Goddess, how can this be?