(1.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
today
I fell out of my clothes<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and my mind
expelled me
not
into sleep<\/p>\n\n\n\n
but into deep
undertows
of flesh instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(a liminal space<\/p>\n\n\n\n
where haste
is a carnivorous weed<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and the more that you twist
to get away
the deeper it sinks its roots into you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
it says I taste
like sunlight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
some lonely hours
that still thrills me.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(2.)
there are people
living
in my eye sockets<\/p>\n\n\n\n
their little hands
stretch out
toward the plug
in the back of my head<\/p>\n\n\n\n
always they pray<\/p>\n\n\n\n
to be drained
safely into dreams<\/p>\n\n\n\n
never to reach it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(I have been killing them with kindness<\/p>\n\n\n\n
drowning them
slow<\/p>\n\n\n\n
one tear
of joy
at a time.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(3.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
heaven
is a thought<\/p>\n\n\n\n
an orgy of silhouettes
projected<\/p>\n\n\n\n
upon the back wall of the skull.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(put a bullet in it<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and let god trickle in
through the cracks.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(4.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
nudity is war,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
every fifth touch is a tracer,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
a stroboscopic exhale of form<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I
am
not<\/p>\n\n\n\n
alone
in
here<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(they hide their faces
beneath napkins
to savor the intimacy
of sin<\/p>\n\n\n\n
whole banquets
of ortolan
tear each other apart
as to be the lucky one
who leaves their throats<\/p>\n\n\n\n
but from so far
behind their teeth<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I cannot
swallow whole
all
that their fury fails to tell…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I keep choking
on bones that taste
like my own.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(5.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
if that which is loved
is subject to decay<\/p>\n\n\n\n
my bone marrow
must still be the color of spring<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(you should know<\/p>\n\n\n\n
you wiped your hands clean
on the edge of the bed<\/p>\n\n\n\n
my shame
still on your breath
as you kissed me goodnight.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
((you said I tasted like sunlight))<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Picture of Ben Heart, by a friend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[7,6,12],"class_list":["post-597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poetry","tag-benheart","tag-poetry","tag-trauma"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/benheart.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/benheart.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/benheart.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benheart.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benheart.art\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=597"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/benheart.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":599,"href":"https:\/\/benheart.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597\/revisions\/599"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benheart.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/benheart.art\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benheart.art\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benheart.art\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}