gateway drug

i drink the dredges of

your arrogance

and bitter temper.

you know me more

and love me less; this

row of teeth sharpens around

us.

it’s orchids growing

from your [BODY

PART]

over and over; why

do you hunt deer? my dear

they are so beautiful.

it’s orchids growing

in the rotting

soil between us.

my love, behind the

barrel of my gun,

your hawk is a dove.

beautiful dove, why do

you hunt deer?

i have whined around this

bullet for some years

too many.

today, it burrows out the

back of my ribs; nudges out of

some intercostal space.

orchids grow from the exit wound.

i splutter like a dying old car;

your remnants fall out of me.

my gun, why do you hunt deer?

my dear, they are so beautiful.