Mine
Do you mind if I hold you,
if I grip you like an ancient goblet,
thick–glassed, bejeweled,
and embossed with strange signs?
Do you mind if I drink you,
if I sip you like liquor from the grail
or swill you with a Viking’s gulp,
some of you spilling into my beard,
some of you wiped onto my cuff?
And if I slam you down on the table,
and later, when I’ve picked you up,
wiped you off,
and put you in the cupboard,
do you mind?
What if I lay on top of you
and arrange you for my pleasure,
my skin cushioned by your scent,
my pain harbored in your bones,
your clean breast
as soft and dry as powder,
my head as dense as stone,
the burden of its dreams
yours to bear,
do you mind?
Ryan Lawrence is an award-winning writer living in Portland, OR. His awards include the 1991 Presidential Physical Fitness Award and an Honorable Mention for a science fair project about dinosaurs. His girlfriend, Bailey, adores him endlessly.
Bindweed Magazine 