Blue Light
The heavy wet sponge
of my tongue
licks the sugar
off my scars
Tiny worms live
in the lining of my skin
I hear them panting, chattering
I line the litter tray with their lies
Chemical Reaction
Heat pleats the arched backs
of the carved initials
razoring the air
Blisters of light bud
and float on the water
Fantailed fish hammer the surface
choked by the smash of stars
the press of ceiling
Their open-mouthed stare
itches my teeth
sweats my eyes
Their spangled skin
cleaves to their flesh
and will not be peeled away
Unlust
I shake voodoo bones
cupped in my palm
rattling like dice
My goosebumped skin
pops and flows
with drowsy sap
My tongue hammers
against the bars of my teeth
Tightrope walkers tread
the linked chain of my spine
I lie with the dead
on cold hard slabs
flinching at their muffled heartbeats
the metal castors squeak
Sleep stoppers my mouth
A flapping cloth drapes my face
I read the letters
backwards in the mirror
tie a reminder string
round the swollen knuckle
of my index finger
Bones in the Brain
Silt clumps my veins
buzzes in the tubes
sheathing my bones
Wall-eyed I read the dictionary
every X a kiss
pushing its tongue into the holes
from where my wisdom teeth were yanked
My uvula vibrates
sounding a death knell
sung by castrati
I walk the carpet in figures of eight
The squish of my guts gurgles
I can’t see past my bitten nails
My fingertips trace
the shadow beneath your lashes
I walk the minefield
shoehorning alchemy
into engorged exoskeletons
Above the field of fritillaries
baby spiders float on the air
