MATINS
I am spread
legs
two waves not
for me, you’re
making breakfast
so slowly
we wanted more but
someone called
the police
They were worried
Where have you been
all these years
my god
.
The streets are
no longer empty
of other people
living
It is harder to forget
someone else was once in
your place
I find it soothing
to press my thumb into
the jaw’s hinge
loose knob
tighten my
grip
I am only
renting
this body
It doesn’t
belong
to me
.
I wanted
a pancake
and you are obliging
to women you hope
to snare in love
I still don’t know
what it meant
your hair in my mouth
I think it meant something
my foot
your hands
It meant
I was someone
you’d choose
Rebecca Valley‘s work has been published in Rattle, Black Warrior Review, Tinderbox Poetry Journal, on Poets.org, and in other journals. Rebecca received an MFA in Creative Writing from UMass Amherst, along with the 2019 Academy of American Poets Award. Rebecca currently lives in Western Massachusetts. You can find more at www.rebeccavalley.com.