Claire Denson

Oral Fixation

 

I want you in your room

to touch my cheek

on the inside

with your index and middle

fingers and I want to

stare at you like

this is what I’m good at

I want to say

that I am good

at you putting your

fingers in my mouth

by sucking the dirt

and tasting every particle

in small corners where skin creases

I want to taste the difference

between your nails and flesh

and I want you to understand

that I can taste your

multitudes in my mouth

I can decipher and delineate

with a muscle but

you’re not a poet

and you’re not damaged

enough to want

to stick your fingers in

a sad girl’s mouth

so I suck

my own fingers I bite

my own hand while on

your falling sheets I break

skin and bleed and I mark

your cheek on the outside

with my palm and five

fingers this is because

I hate you I say

this is because I hate

you I kiss

 

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Claire Denson is a Literature and Creative Writing major at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. You can find her on Twitter at @shmaireshmen.