by Dominique Law

Thank you for gracing me with my right to be

your cannon fodder in battles best fought by machines

I was bred to serve and I serve you still, my womb an agent of perpetual supply.

Thank you for allowing me to be the shaky pillar on which you stand. You scar and wound but I will never let you fall.

My duty is to you or whomever you decide … my lands, my pride, my strength

Thank you for loving me the only way you know how

Though my bones break

and my sinews tear

and my children weep

and my potential wanes…

Thank you, for now I will always know my place.

Because dreams are the luxuries of fools,

not slaves like me.