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Hybrid Heart

I gained two minds that day

between the goat and snake.

And who would dare to call

Chimera’s other head the fake?

My kind words singe your skin

I am Echidna’s adoptee

who holds her tongue in fear

as you condemn her to monstrosity.

What about me is so damning?

does my mere existence flaunt

the stark divides of nature

in some bitter, jeering taunt?

What good are subdivisions

if the categories squirm

under observation? In what way

is Onychophora a worm?

You accept approximation

when its distance is convenient

but when you see my hybrid heart

you dare not be so lenient.