by Mateo Lara
all my accidents have set chaos into motion
I don’t want to haunt you, I want reparations
for this marauding wound on open chest
critical rotting with your name, carved out of bone
this dust reminds me; lust of carnality
totality of beast, flesh between aching teeth
I can’t know anything else but your skin
deep white on my brown body.
tree root sticky with saliva
plasma turned into twigs
infested with a scent of lavender
wolf-bane in the air, stomach purplish
& steaming with fistfulls of relinquished
power, no one can temper heat without
a bit of frigid fingers on a needing torso
rip tales off of scorpions
resist urges to eat a beautiful
body right off glittering platter, I’m no
saint, these flames are much bigger
when you close your eyes, watch
butterfly turn into wasp, gut
sensitive spider-lings, cut a web
across echoing, is this too much
gold, still humming at bloody feet?
Mateo Lara is a queer latinx poet originally from Bakersfield, California. He received his B.A. in English at CSU Bakersfield. He is currently working on his M.F.A. in Poetry at Randolph College in Lynchburg, VA. His poems have been featured in Orpheus, EOAGH, Empty Mirror, and The New Engagement. He is an editor for RabidOak online literary journal & Zoetic Press.
