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Two of these excellent poems
Anon
I don’t see him,
but I can tell he is handsome,
not just taut ribs beneath my hands,
pulse and pressure rising,
but in how he moves,
the slow peel and toss of my clothes,
his thumb stroking my cheek. I make him
from what is left unsaid.
His arm’s weight, draped, then gone,
the tension in his buttock holding still,
his swell -
his hand at the back of my head,
not demanding, not desperate,
encouraging me down to the base.
I know him by taste
salt, sweat, the ghost of citrus.
I know him in the way breath breaks,
his body shifting as he gives in,
the second he lingers
before leaving,
as if he might kiss me.
He doesn’t.
I don’t ask.
Serenity Prayer
god grant us the serenity / to accept the things we cannot change / the courage to change the / things we can / and the wisdom to know el differencio / such as / true Heinz ketchup / us Aldi home brand / the subtle grief of budget beans / the betrayal of margarine that tries to pass for butter / the smear of compromise / on morning toast / go grant us patience / when the oat milk seperates in coffee / and when someone says it’s the same thing / but you know / it’s not / and you don’t have the words to argue / over condiments / anymore / give us courage / to walk away from relationships / but never from good mayonnaise / help us forgive ourselves / for buying the cheap pesto / again / even when we knew / even when it smelled like despair / teach us to accept the own-brand biscuits / in hospital waiting rooms / and the whisper of realisation / that nothing / is ever quite the same / once you’ve tasted / the full-fat / the full-price / the full-truth / of what was / always yours.
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