i woke up choking on flowers.

i suppose it was only right, since i’d dreamt of you in a garden.
in it, you did not run from me
but towards. in it,
my skin did not rot in sunlight and i was not forced to hide it under the earth.

my tongue, let the gods know, it didn’t burn when we kissed.
and they knew we kissed like the world was crumbling at our feet, and they scowled at the blasphemy between our teeth.

You said, “Let them look,”
You said, “Let their eyes roll out of their sockets if it displeases them so.”
“Let their bodies fall limp above our heads.”

And they did, and it followed on screams, and soon we were swimming
in an ocean of divine
You lifted a God’s heart and took a bite.

but there is no water where the living can’t reach,
and i sank deep without your hand to hold.

i woke up alone,
my throat full of thorns.
red water leaked through the holes and i tried to catch it
but i couldn’t hold her in.