Dante Novario
The reservations are set, we skin ourselves
In tablecloth, banqueting our bodies
In preparation for the feast to come
You tear me apart like fresh bread
My flesh pairs well with white wine, yours whisky
Here, have another glass
I’ll taste so much better with you inside of me
I insist, but you refuse me a bite
Demand that I plate myself instead
So I do, beg you to save my heart for last
But you eat it as a vomitorium, I savor
Each nibble like an epicure, you swallow me
In chunks untasting my loving flavors
I want to die full of you, teeth at my neck
Lips on every bruise, I want to consume you
Until I can taste myself again, knife
In my side, simmering slowly
We will never burn each other off
Completely, stuck in your jiggling thighs
You between my teeth, we will never
Be alone again, slicing my kidneys
Into perfect triangles, yours happy faces
Our hunger overcoming us
I grab your feet and you grab mine
We eat upwards until we find ourselves again
Forming a perfect circle, a halo,
A dinner plate
We gnaw, my lips inside of yours,
This way we will never be hungry again, uncertain
Whose flesh I consume, the ecstasy
Of digestion, this way we will never forget
What our love tasted like
***
Dante Novario is an internationally published writer who lives in Louisville, KY where he works as a therapist with special needs individuals. His writing has previously appeared or is forthcoming in Firewords Magazine, ANGLES, KAIROS, Thin Air Magazine, Still: The Journal, Ghost City Press, Jersey Devil Press, The River Magazine and others. His poetry was recently featured on the literary podcast Strange Horizons.