A new page turns:
it’s midnight
and all I see are dreams and glimpses of her,
the ink from her snake tattoo
dark on her wrist like a passing shadow,
lean fingers layered with gemstone rings,
jade feline eyes swallow me and spit me out.

I want to pull you in,
and trace the ink written on your skin.
It feels like stories to me,
pages and pages of words
transcribed along the flesh of Aphrodite.
And, oh, to touch with is untouchable—
the more I long for you, the more the venom
of longing seeps into my untouched heart.