A Poem
By Juwayriya Bemath
you’ve made your bed elsewhere,
laid down in it,
will lay again,
between shadows
in shades of dark, fiery passion
permeating hues of blush-pink resilience
tangled limbs and tangled sheets
beads of glitter and sweat
in the crease of your ecstasy
this scent
i taste it like lighter fluid burning my tongue
rousing my curiosity
the scent of desire
of someone i fail to recognise
not just them;
another you
a you i have not seen at the dinner table
the reserved seating kept aside for drunken nights and discreet hotel rooms
this bed is no confessional —
adorned with guiltless longing
there is no longer reason to hide
this shrine, no less pure, no more marred.
an altar, to rest your bones and stardust
your candle burns at both ends
flames devouring
— bright and compelling —
souls saturated
— full and accepting —
love does not run out;
there’s enough for us all
