predator, pray (poem)
valentine #5: if you bite down hard enough it tastes like love
What would Vlnt Valentines be without a truly violent valentine? This one is raw, messy, and full of entrails. It’s my favorite of the poems I’ve shared this month so far, so I hope you like it too.
predator, pray
i will know it’s real when
i can sink my claws into you
and you won’t flinch at all.
when my nails pierce bone
and you still whisper for
me to come closer. i want
to taste the inside of your
skin. show me where the
shame eats at your liver
and trust me not to bite
down. let me haruspicate
your heart then carve my
name into that flayed
open chest. predator and
protector. all at once i can
create a monument out of
a man in just a mortal
moment. every part of the
body becomes the altar at
which i kneel with my
offerings of teeth, lace,
and baby birds with broken
necks. i separate the skin
from tendon and give you
the good bones. if you bite
down hard enough it tastes
like love and there’s a faint
scent of blood that never
fully fades. let me be
oracle and executioner
and you can be god. just
let me run free wild
and i swear i will
always return home
with the bird in my
mouth when it’s time
to pray.
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Oh myyyy. This is delicious. And also made me cry.
LOVE THIS SO MUCH OMG!!! So good.