Claire.

My eye fitting just
between a slit
I see her crouching
on the wall, back
arched and legs
tall, licking the
length with
her own wanton
tongue, rough
stuff on the floor
chicken bones,
gold catches
the suns eye and touches
me at the very core
this woman, this feline
might feel
just as sore as I sound



might have been heralded
as a godess
in Egypt.



I consider my
canine nature
my unwarranted
devotion, my
wagging tail,
I play dead.

Come sunset
we feel
the insurgence
of life, barking,
scratching,
howling in the night
waiting for the
tug of collar
against neck,

the fight of
tooth and
nail.

For Midas' Mistress.

Late at night
I wait for the
boy to meet
me with the
paper bag
then scurry back;
clutching, laughing
at the moon's fat
reflection in the Thames.

I sniff
a row
of diamonds
and they twinkle away
in my head.

And one day I will be
some anti- Midas
who touches dirt
and finds gold
lurking in the corners
and under floorboards
I scurry through
the night as a bat
I own

heaven, I know that
the truth loves me.

M

Gold, gold, gold,
gold!

Acres of skin,
acres of hair,
gilted.

Mapped out
reigons on skin
sunburnt and
bursting with
vanilla, flower
me up.

I want it to be
beautiful, I want
to be liquid.

Boyfriend.

My cold hands to
your colder cheeks!
Damp like the towel
hung over the kitchen
sink, we cling to one
another in the eye of
a storm I'll try my
hardest to keep you
warm and keep you
loved, I think I'll
keep you! For
ever and ever
and

Nude.

From where she lay
on her chest the buttons
pressed against her
skin and made purplish
dents. I took a finger

tracing the lines
and feeling out
the horror
in the hollows.

Darling
your shirt is
practically
gaping.

These marks are
just a reminder
of who we are
when we're not naked.

Her waistband
again, cut into
the flesh by
pressure, were
the buttons real
I'd undo her
and slip inside

But I find
just tracing the lines
connecting the dots
is fine, is enough.

The white sheets
draped over her
like some grecian
gown; I smile.

I love you for
what you are.

Body.

Deconstructing my body bone by bone stone by stone by organ by organ I roam on the land before they drop pieces of me

into the sea, into the sea.

Razor.

Covering her legs
with soap, she winks
giggling, she takes
razor to skin
and in sweeping
motions tears
the hair from
the root
and unearths
gold.

Later my lips
to her golden calve
I think about
the razor and
I quiver, wanting
it traced down my spine,
dragged across my teeth.

Pearl.

I open my mouth
I put a pearl
on my tongue
feeling the lolling,
spilling white
rolling around
my mouth;
I spit it out,
she came from a shell.

I run my tongue
over the edge
I taste the sea
my tongue bleeds
it turns the
pearl pink
it makes me think
it makes me think of you.

Alison.

She walks and she
gives daffodils
reason to lament.

She makes
this forest
barren.

She took my
heart locket
and broke it

and now the
two pieces
don't fit,
aren't gold.

Junk.

I tear
out hair,
red handfuls.
Handfuls of red
crepe paper.

I make eyes
at myself
I make my eyes
out of green plastic
and then get jealous
when I look at you.

My spine
is just
a string of pearls
and where the
clasp rests,
so does my head.

Diamonds
are
forever.

But fabric
is not
here to stay.

I'm
recyclable, darling
so you can just

throw me

away.

Pencils, bows, bows, pencils.

Pencilling on the bow
of my own
coy mouth.

Tying up the bow
on my own
pencil skirt.

Bowing to pencils
that were held
by you

then pulling
back my bow
I shoot

... I score.

Continental.

For the dance we had
in France,
for the rain we had in Spain
for the dreams we marched for in Israel
and for London, 2012- I LOVE YOU.

I love you in every language possible
In every language possible
In every language possible.