Directions (to where you can still picture me naked)
I’ve found the origin of recklessness
a signal emitted from a navel
follow the map that smokes
find the stripper who plays
music from her mouth
turntable needle- teeth
tongue hop scotches over hairline cracks
locate the room at the bottom of a river’s bend
if you know the passcode to enter
hint: your love is the stickiness of a snow cone
simulate slowly the angle a head takes
when fixed in awe
if you find your hips dancing
drowsily think of childhood memories
how skylines reject them
how they scatter like startled birds
panoramic legs shake loose
a jetblack sliding door
head straight back
you’ll have to do what you say
if you’re confused that’s alright
sit down on a heart-shaped
face drenched in wet
it’s okay it’s what you paid for
ignore every girl
that doesn’t shimmy like a hand grenade
a milk-lined throat will ask you
what do you want to drink?
respond: hands stained lily
white & steamed like silkimagine
intimacy in each threat of the next
song ending
stay & you’ll know
the pendulum sway of silhouettes
gnawing at their gas masks
A-deaf-girl-in-the-desert-listens-to-the-blues
or
I am the girl who does know better but...
you crowned me with desert &
your chest gleamed like spun sugar
an ever-shifting bridge to slowly crush
the idea of us
night-blooming
I’m trying to pretend
days haven’t lost their meaning
I’ll tell you a secret I wanted it all
but you give girls mouth-
drought & fertile despondency
& I wouldn’t catch it
succulent tongue
you didn’t lose anything except the mirage
poppy-red flowers pinpoint places I allowed
my love, explain the push-pinned route you took
these are the terms of touching
this is where your blood won’t be missed
this is the weight of being an executioner
again recite you don’t understand how difficult it is
it is clear
you are the common cold
it is wise
to line every womb
you touch with tarp
so nothing sticks
it is safe
it is easy
to tie up an animal
whose blood has been drained
Meg E. Griffitts' work has appeared or is forthcoming in Hypertrophic, Evening Will Come, The Colorado Independent, andBlazeVOX.