Grab Your Dust Jacket, We're Going Trope Hunting

There's only so many times a woman can be
Death incarnate, can fold the world
Like a petal and sharpen her smile
On quivering necks of wickedness.
There's only so many times she can
Outwit magicians, sleight the dice,
Hold the line, feint and keep running.
There's only so many times the stars
Can be defied, wished upon, or rattled
Like teeth in the palm of a gambling god.
There's only so many Christ analogies a girl
Can take, before she wonders if the hero needs to die
And stay dead, so the world can take its turn.