Juliana Briggs

IT IS 7AM

She is honey-glazing my ribs
The third, the fifth, the false
Pleading, green bathroom tile
kissed my cheek before she did
Now I cannot, for the life of me
despise my body in those moments
when her hibiscus lips soften it
Now I keep off the noise in the morning
marinating stillness, birdsong peppering dawn
Now I let the static stay behind
the unshattered screen of the tv
Now I try not to bite
at my own bone-bruised ankles
And it is all manual, all effortful
all a steeping mimesis of intuition
I know now is a deer in the woods
So for as long as I can stave off beast and bounty
I will let her keep making her way
across my salted body

back to contents

prev
next