addict

 

hotter in my veins is a long drawl

of repeated shots, of hypnotic rubbing

bodies, stomachs touching and thighs

interlocked. in my eyes there is no lie,

 

and on the street our bones

ache in unison, begging to succumb

but we refuse wet mouths of men.

i lay on his bedroom floor

with numb limbs, listening to him

smile and breathe in the black air.

 

as the sun starts again

i drag my body across broadway

avoiding the unlit,

smearing old makeup from eyes

and coughing against the need for

cigarettes.

 

arboreal; veins

 

i have nothing to say

in these gaps

 

and no more excuses for those

dark creases under their eyes.

 

when this was still wet and malleable

i had plans

'cause i

had

plans and yes

my bones

creak a certain sigh lately

in unison with the tone

of tired carbon dioxide leaving lungs

 

and i

had plans for

satiating.

 

you see, i want to scream into your eyes so loud that my voice

gets trapped in the dark pupil of your iris but my lungs aren't

fierce enough to get this all out. there's too much consciousness,

these bits are chipping off the ceiling and i'm too lazy or tired

to pick it all off bit by bit so i shake and shiver it away. our skin

has worn thin.

i don't think papercuts hold the same fear they used to.

 

by the way, i had plans

 

but feel the bruise that stays

sienna, and press hard to make it

grow.

 

i had plans

but couldn't save

anything from creasing, from

rotting or wilting:

AND

 

i had plans

about all this

being tangible.

we are sad people with veins

that pulse and pull.

and i had

 

plans?

 

debt

 

when you learned i knew something

about star trek and had an affinity

for jean luc picard the room grew

indebted. similar moments stick

like leaves in concrete, because

 

we danced a dirty waltz of clumsy steps

just to bring our teeth closer to air. and,

as a result, learned that fondness camps out

in unexpected places, and people.

 

our elbows click heels like dorothy

leaving for kansas, but we move nowhere.

 

Alaina S. Bio

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