Kyss Mig
Inspired by the Swedish film Kyss Mig
She leans in amid a background of deer
We, the bevy, are petrified
like Christmas decorations,
heavy and twinkling with anticipation
Doe by doe, a slow-motion charm
echoes this moment of ticking frenzy
Cell by cell, space between us shrivels
our gamy voyeurs dim and retire
The dusk wraps its wooded arms around us
My pulse melts under her tongue,
her breath waves through my teeth
As we fold soundlessly into each other’s night
Anthophilous
If I could copy your body,
I’d put the spares in concentric circles.
In the middle, perfect pairs of thighs,
gathering like dense, secreting stems.
Abundant svelte arms and slender
fingers
heartily blossoming toward a torrid star.
Nothing less than a goddess bouquet,
I’d shove my nose deep in its center,
inhaling the perfume and grandiose.
I’d touch its golden pollen to my
tongue,
tasting wildflowers and natural danger,
a combination worthy of endless eons.
When I deemed the arrangement
flawless,
I’d place the ladies in an ornate vase,
taking care to display their finest
features.
And once I spritzed my prize with love,
I’d present this impeccable posy to you.
One Word Whisper
I am a dry, curling leaf:
part sun, part rust
Stuttering on sidewalks
Vibrant to passersby,
dying since I broke
I am also black mud:
heavy with emptiness
Still a bit frozen within
Sucking at clunky boots,
begging for the next steps
See how I can weigh both
nothing
& everything?
How I can trudge through barren
years, but crumble at a whisper?
Lannie Stabile, a Detroiter, likens the process of creative writing to spanking ketchup: grueling, but necessary. Works can be found, or are forthcoming, in The Hellebore, Kissing Dynamite, Cauldron Anthology, Monstering, and more. She is penning a novel and chapbook, and recently became Project Manager of Barren Magazine. Twitter handle: @LanniePenland. Writer website: https://lanniepenland.weebly.com