Hunger

Exploring you is a study
in duality—

I walk the steps of your spine
& when I reach either end

anything could be waiting.

You exist in too many forms
for one body to hold
& I want them all.

I stick myself to your flesh
& the constant bones,
I want to possess everything—

the marrow of you

the violin bow of your clavicle
the sternum
the femur
& phalanges.

What already possesses me.

I am greedy & want to eat
every piece of you—

I want you to devour me
& leave me picked clean.

You’ve caught me like
a stray animal—
I am wild & an affront
I am tamed & pliant.

I am my own switching poles
& my mind complements
your cyclical shifts.

Splay your hands under
the corners of my ribs—

underneath the cells are
all crying out for you.

Put your fingers in my
mouth & feel the

heartbeat of my hunger.

Need is the ugliest word
but everything I am
is clinging—
grappling to you
& trying to claw inside.

I need to know
your changes don’t enlist
your emotions
but when I wrap my body
around yours
I don’t need words anymore—

your pumping blood
tells me

your oiled skeleton whispers

& your hitching breath
lets me know.