Dusky
Succubus
What I Learned This Summer
For Jake
I.
We met at a camp for writers.
I was a resident, you were an intern,
but that didn’t stop us
from exploring each other.
II.
I wore Aries’ dog-tags
like a hydrant wears dog piss.
When the links gave and it fell off my neck,
he looked at me like a broken bauble. His chain
had broken shackles.
III.
In the cramped store that sold precious stones I felt freer
gently pressed into you
than I did at the park with Aries,
but I pretended
I never wanted to touch,
to graze my fingers over so rare a find,
to tear the cheap copper from my throat,
because that was fucking immoral of me.
We left the gems in the shop,
and went to press a penny like travelers.
IV.
Nobody told me about the glances
that stumbled from your eyes –
I could feel them.
An aggravated ego
and a fistful of broken chains
was all I left Aries.
For Jake
I.
We met at a camp for writers.
I was a resident, you were an intern,
but that didn’t stop us
from exploring each other.
II.
I wore Aries’ dog-tags
like a hydrant wears dog piss.
When the links gave and it fell off my neck,
he looked at me like a broken bauble. His chain
had broken shackles.
III.
In the cramped store that sold precious stones I felt freer
gently pressed into you
than I did at the park with Aries,
but I pretended
I never wanted to touch,
to graze my fingers over so rare a find,
to tear the cheap copper from my throat,
because that was fucking immoral of me.
We left the gems in the shop,
and went to press a penny like travelers.
IV.
Nobody told me about the glances
that stumbled from your eyes –
I could feel them.
An aggravated ego
and a fistful of broken chains
was all I left Aries.
