Madeline Stokes
Crawl to me under the cover of night
press your chest upon my chest.
Clutch my bloodied heart between your palms.
Freed from the ravenous chains of the animal,
the lyrical beating spills into our awaiting ears.
The petals of blush tinted lips graze together,
savage bites hidden in the guise of a kiss.
Unyielding hands cover filigree carved flesh
Fresh bruises on the porcelain facade of youth,
ornate swirls of purple and blue. My calamitous lover,
tender skin peeled away to reveal the iron beneath.
Serendipitous brutality.
You have taken my all, there is nothing left to give.
My eyes and ears are filled with blood,
bursting at hand-stitched seams.
My heart, my soul, my mind; they belong to you.
When the clementine hues of the summer sun,
creep like ivy through stained windows and
you have irrevocably divested me of my vitality.
Plant me in your courtyard let chrysanthemums
spring from my rib cage. Bury me, deep down
under the feet of strangers passing by.
Lovingly put to bed in the silken soil from which
your soul began. Rotted bones tied together with
chiffon pink ribbon, hidden in the melancholy
resting place of an unmarked grave.
***
Madeleine Stokes is a nineteen-year-old student at the University of Winnipeg.