A Fist and A Jaw
To Elena, for your strength

I.
I seem to draw my body close,
Into itself, into the ground,
To center myself,
My weight in search of some
Sort of gravity.

Fire lit palms burning symbols
Into my cheek,
Branding and marking,
Territorializing me,
Claiming the parts that belonged
To you, and the ones that
Belonged to me.

Your hands rolled into
Rock fists pummel
At the curve of my back,
Tracing lines down
My spine and I shiver
At the rainstorms
You trickle down on me.

II.
Your fist met my jaw today
And I can still taste the blood
That wafted in the cracks
Of my tongue,
Filtering slowly
Down my throat,
Back into me.
I didn’t want to lose
Any part of myself to you
Or your thundering fists.

I never knew till you
How easily bones
Could be turned into dust,
How simple it is
To snap the concreteness
Of a body,
How effortlessly anger
Can manifest itself in
Hands, and bats, and feet.

I’ll never forget the life
That grew in me,
And how it traced lines
Down my thighs
And rested in dark pools
At my feet,
My fingers dripping,
And our carpet absorbing
The hands and heart
And eyes and smile
Of the life that should’ve
Grown in me.