Twentynine years ago

Sestina Inanna

They hold me at the border of my soul
The guards strip me of bracelets, dress, skin, charm
I stand there naked yet my name is truth
No harm can touch me when I speak it loud
I am the only goddess that I know
Descend to Hell and find my self in pain

There's grace in knowing all the guards of pain
that cut me in my face, my limbs, my soul
There is a grace we only naked know
stripped down past ugliness we find the charm
naked in a white gown I scream aloud
dead, drugged, bled out in ulcers I find truth

The guards of Hell have branded me with truth
they cut my tongue and whipped me into pain
My gurgling screams are truth spoken aloud
Read on my skin the words that form my soul
they strapped me into hell, I learned the charm
that freed me. Words are all the truth we know

The border is the torment that we know
And crossing it our only word of truth
Stripped down past skin past bone we find our charm
and scream aloud the only spells we know
carved from our body we remake our soul
from severed broken throat we sing aloud

Broken and mended words we sing aloud
sweet painsongs that from torment we now know
guards hell and torment formed out of our soul
bones broken mended source of our new truth
the glory goddess made out of our pain
skinned ghastly lovely shining smile of charm

In age we learn truth is the only charm
true naked words we learn to speak aloud
we learned stripped out of language into pain
in Hell we learn the language we now know
imprisoned bittersweetness is our truth
the regrown language of the chastened soul

Speak goddess, pain the border into charm
Inanna is my soul who sings aloud
the Hell I know that carved me into truth