An Erotic Poem

for You.

If you kiss me, be an animal:
Feasting, feisty, fickle.

Be fierce against me, press on me:
Taste, taste, taste—lap at my flesh.

We don't want to hurt each other;
O, but we will, in some cute way.

I am your dog: be a little bone
to crunch at, be a little treat for me.

Are you my careful beast? or are you
indecorous: an untameable leopard.

Much there is in a good bite, a hot
tongue, a kneading paw, a hunting eye.

Much there is in dripping lips, stiff tails,
and the choking malaise of our loving.

Aren't you quiet? Don't be quiet, dear,
let all the ears of this world hear us.

Fuck a little poem out of me, or
fuck a proper epic: so many verses.

God, I want to top you in the middle
of the woods, where only the trees—

They would creak and sway for us,
and when the rustling ferns quiet,

There will only be the soft animals
panting in the upturned dirt and mulch.

There will only be the soft animals
filled with effort, to live another day.

Didn't know I could be this way,
so serene and needing you so.

Didn't know I could be this way,
so empty and full at once, satisfied.

Thank you.

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