"Killing Floor" by Amanda Oaks
come with a mop of my hair
with a strut so swank I lose
my mind I didn't want
to find the bones you buried
in reason I get it I've got
ghosts caught in-between
my teeth I tried to salt
them out but my miswired
head said nuh said bitch
please what'd you think
you could hide the blood
on the bottom of your boots
the cherry prints they made
all up & down his cheeks
when they fingered & then
bloodied his mouth
"The Modus Operandi of Love" by Amanda Oaks
I count them— one & one & one
apologies kisses the puncture wounds
scarred over on our tongues from
biting into them all the things that
feel like lacing up & tying shoes—
necessary in holding the days our
hearts our life together but just tricks
to keep us from tripping into every
trivial puddle or the seawolf’s mouth
building our future out of the stones
we throw at each other just means that
when waves like us part the seawall
will already be well-stacked for
or against us
"Lovesick Origami" by Amanda Oaks
I fold & unfold what you said
& what you didn’t until the pleats
in the paper catch fire I am
in love with my own longing
a hell so hungry that it swallows
my entire heart down its throat
without blinking so hungry
it almost seems holy