FLOCK OF LUZON DOVES

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In the flash of her kerosene blue eyes

Their shoulders peel like tangerines

And they fall from trees like fruit to the living room floor

With bruises shaped like bible verses

Like the bruises on the fruit that grows inside you

In your soft throat

A fruit with too many seeds tangled up in your breath

The red impressions of carpet on my bare knees

Shaped like salvation

Like wings

We stared at each other without saying a word

With so many words rolling under our tongues like silver

Like the small moons under our pillows

We were boys with birds for tongues

Throats bloodying with the ache to take flight

With wings pinned back like rabbit ears

Like hymns hummed in the night

Like bullets

And we couldn't stop shaking no matter how many plastic stars littered the ceiling

And we wanted to forget everything except the way we look at each other

Like a flock of luzon doves

Aching to fly

She said stay quiet

If not for me then for the rosemary plants you sing to when no one is watching

I sit on top of the bathroom counter, my claws dull from clawing

And I tell her I’ll try, I’ll try despite

The night bruising around me

When you carried me in your mouth

Like prey

And all I could think was how much I wanted to be swallowed

To know what it feels like to be at home in every fissure of the night

And nothing is left except the light on your fur

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June 27, 2024