Drunk with words
love scours temper’s
wound, my daily
portion given me.
No oaths cheapen.
Midwifery serves quick
as witchcraft to
edge these sleights
near the ungraceful
eye, dilated scruples.
Loyalties breed bone-
deep, love forks.
Forged to face,
a stranger’s body
renders possible worship.
Lies eat me,
Time burns my
jealous hands, pries
truth’s first blabbing;
drunk with love.
I yield. I
resist, diked, lust-
free, desire sapped
by chaste fury.
Envy fingers ice
against my groin.
Screened, the rood
I would worship
at. Drunk, love
sheds fools tears.