by Mae Verano
back out
this chest
feet first
pulped skin
an exposé
step into your mouth
my newest home to rot inside
here — open wide!
follow my heaving
its dulled incisors
lunging
gnawing
collapsing
on the beat
is this familiar?
do you know
what comes what’s next?
no invitation needed
with the naïve
sorry —
i mean the welcoming
wait!
i promise
if i could love
you
i would
pluck
pluck
pluck-ed
each lash to wish you lover
enough to replace
a bloodline
please
take this
shivering fist
soured throat
bouquet of wire
all i can scavenge
of my pre-disposition
please
drag me closer
to what keeps me
alive
Mae Verano is a queer Ilokano writer, researcher, and MSW student from East Side San Jose, CA. They are a Pink Door Fellow, and their writing can be found in The Offing and Caesura. Their work aims to unravel our understandings of tradition, canon, and empire – centering a return to community and to self. Follow them on IG @mae.summer.