Chapter Text
we’ve gotta stop meeting like this
welcome to my table
do you like it?
i’ve spent the last few days
building it to cradle
the hand you stretch out
palm up and ready
fingers curled and steady
but the bite of nails always
wading
through the wood grain
my fingerprints go for wrist
and press down
restless animal tap tap tapping
morse code beat of dots and
dashes
against the rocks
that sit heavy in my belly
the only food i’ve eaten while
making the feast for this
our standing appointment
so i may be too tense and bitter
for you to chew on
but instead your eyes are
reigning
over the curve of my jaw
falling wide around my neck
i’m so easily cracked open and
red
drips down as i swallow the wine
try not to choke
as it coats lungs and not throat
i’ve never felt more like
pray
to whatever’s listening
and when silence comes
on the backs of your greedy sighs
repeat to myself
i’mfinei’mfinei’mfinei’mfinei’m
finally
losing my mind
do you mind?
of course not
it’s the course you crave
now the real game begins
as the clock ticks down
a minute a month a few years more
i stitch myself together so i
seam
by seam start
to lay out my cloth
and light the candles
with the banked fire
smoking beneath my tongue
we sit now hand to
i
sharpen my teeth on the
porcelain plates set down
is this the meal
my hunger
devours yours?
let’s eat and find out