The prelude to a bruise Is the loving gleam in your eyes Feral glint boiling up from Wild meadows and forest lingering on the edge of Forgotten Conception is the heavy, hot second of contact. Searing through me with a gasp and Cry of thanks Your touch sows the seeds of violets and morning glories And red, red roses, thorn-***** freckles Flowers blooming across my back, my thighs, my throat Grow me up from your sheets, lavender and larkspur wrapping around my ankles, My ribs a spray of hyacinth, hydrangea flourishing on the crests of my hips, Wrists encircled in verbena, Delphiniums blossom on my throat Planted by your hands, your teeth Gardens of your admiration remembered on the canvas of my skin