Diwata

“Some people automatically associate horns with evil. I use them to represent the outsiders or ‘the others,’ which is not synonymous with evil.” – Camille Quintos

 

What if I told you She was
my goddess

and She went to bed every night
worshipping

rumpled morning sheets

desecrated water fountains

the crack of dinner plates

the setting fire to a cheating man’s clothes? 

What if I told you Eve was our Messiah 
who didn’t allow

the gasping of air cradled
in sweat-soaked sheets from a bad dream

a bad life? 

What if I told you Her teeth
flapped out of his skin

he, who stole from Her recluse tongue

bringing profligates to their knees? 

What if I told you the Serpent was
Adam’s own jealous lie? 

What if I told you She breathed
roses and knives cradling Her belly?

– how a child

could make Her body

a home
you let the lambs in to rest? 

– or when She dreamed

water so blue

the horizon became a swimming pool
between ocean and sky? 

What if I told you that fire
set Her divinity ablaze

until She became the Sun itself:

Destroyer Demon Witch Woman Rebel Healer Savior Mother Maiden Matriarch Woman Queen Warrior Woman Sin Temptress Mistress Wife Heartbreaker Lover Love Woman Dream                      Woman                      Salvation                        Woman                       Woman

Creator

*“Diwata” was published in NOMBONO: An Anthology of Speculative Poetry by BIPOC Creators, Knoxville: Sundress Publications, 2021