If I'd Said Her Lips (Were Anything at All)

if i said that her lips
were anything i'd imagined
i'd be lying.

upon further discussion,
a cavity forms
in the space above us;

it is the calling
of arms, and the
drowning of legs;
the stitching
of hands, and the
crossing of hearts.

this time -i hope-
this time...

dilate

her hips
sweep-sweep to either side
in perpetual figure eights,
and "collapse"
is not an
"appropriate"
adjective.

in withdrawing flesh
from flesh -however
boldly stained- i am caught
again.

this time,
i'll wash the sinned
of that last time,
where we spoke
the most, about
sharing a space in the gallows.

© Seth Elkins

Seth Elkins lives in Brooklyn, New York.
He is 26 years old, and already older
than he had anticipated.