BACK ALLEY 15

basking in the heat before i take a swim

my baby makes me hazy. when i least expect it, he pushes honey-sweet love between my lips with a kiss, and my belly swells fully for days. i'm the type of girl who's always hungry and itching to run, but somehow his blood knows how to keep me running back. after he fills me up with golden saccharine, he cools like a shady pond in midsummer, becoming just what my body (warm and drowsy from his) needs. i wade into his depths. here he sharpens his mind on mine, laughs darkly, & bares his teeth. it is all shards of him — the gently rippling water, the sunlight glinting sharply off it. i want to tell him i am made for him. his sprawling soul needs room to flourish, and my chest is nothing but empty space. there is no one more ripe for the taking. i could eat his heart whole. i could drown in his darkness and feel nothing but peace.