women like that

there was a girl

in the ninth grade whose name
was penny.
she sat in front of me
in biology.

blonde pigtails.
light blue
framed glasses. soft smattering
of light freckles.

i had never seen skin so pale.
she was almost

translucent.
she had a soft voice,
a gentle whisper that made
you lean

in close to her, so close
that you could smell the lavender

soap you imagined she used
that morning.

she was bird like, all feathers
and bones. delicate in nature.

but when it came
to dissecting a frog, pinning
it's

stretched out limbs to the board,
she never flinched or

blinked when taking the scalpel
to cut
and remove

it's heart. i have known and fell
in love
with women

like that. and they too have

removed my

heart without a sound.