this is my most favorite audre lorde poem. it couldn't be better if it tried.

in this misty place where hunger find us

seeking direction

i am too close to you to be useful.

when i speak

the smell of love on my breath

distracts you

and it is easier for me

to move

against myself in you

than to solve my own equations.

i am often misled

by your familiar comforts

the shape of your teeth is written

into my palm like a second lifeline

when i am fingerprinted

the taste of your thighs

shows up

outlined in ink.

they found me wandering at the edge

of a cliff

besides nightmares of your body

"give us your name and place of birth

and we will show you the way home."

i am tempted

to take you apart

and reconstruct your orifices

your tongue your truths your fleshy altars

into my own forgotten image

so when this fog lifts

i could be sure to find you

tethered like a goat

in my heart's yard.

2003-06-18, 3:07 p.m.
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