(After “How to Triumph Like a Girl” by Ada Limón)

I like the lady tigers best,

how they make it look so easy,

swaggering their hips at forty

miles per hour like it’s their job,

like it’s nothing to hunt for

sustenance—or die. Like me,

I just learned I was born

a tiger; a wild heart

pumps life and feral passion

through my body, making me want

to swagger my hips at sixty

miles or (let’s be honest) years.

I’d like to embrace that power,

wear that magic amulet in my crown,

my prey in reach, my claws outstretched…

Makes me want to pull my hair

up off my forehead, take some black ink

and swipe my tiger stripes there,

lines that will make me believe

no, make me finally know,

a queen resides in me.