CHERRIES

1. with your hands like a prayer / and my body ready to split apart 

    beneath them / i confuse romance for hunger / and then lose my

    appetite / with my mouth stained red / these roses in my rib cage /

    caught beneath the skin / the thorns pricking every place that held

    your name / and i bleed blue / and there's a poem there / but it has

    sharp edges / so i draw my hand back / and i don't drown in it / and

    there's a bird nest outside my window again / but we're not speaking

    the same language anymore / and i survive the spring / and i bloom /

    with light and light and light

2. with your hands like a prayer / and my body like a confessional / time

    heals wounds / but i am still coughing up the petals

3. with your hands like a prayer / and my body sweeter than cherry juice

    / here's the truth / lightning doesn't strike the same place twice / and

    eventually your body learns to forgive / even if it still craves the after-

    shock

4. once / i said love tasted just like cherries

5. once / i said the birds sang your name

6. once / i said there was just honeysuckle

7. today / i walked right past the cherry display