REID MITCHELL


She Hides Her Mouth With Her Hand

Her teeth bite her gums.

Her saliva is sanguine,
her words bloody.

Her spit would rust bones red.

She breaks lemon, lime, orange, and tamarind like eggs over her opened lips.

If it burns, it cures.

That is her belief. That is her remaining hope.

She burns her insides with a fire she makes bright by the oxygen her blood carries.

She captures her breath within the chimney made by her hands
to smell herself and to judge herself fit.

Will the young man taste her perfume or her blood
when he succumbs to her mouth?