Liu Liu
I’ve lived my whole life
Folded at the waist
A slave to petition
First as a child
Dependent on the pity
Of a mother
Who could neither
Prefer nor sustain her
Then as a student
Who, being spurned,
Could only beseech
Lastly as a woman
Whose rank relies
On the degree of intimacy
Obtained or intended
Your mouth looks as if
It has been ironed on
No aperture, just a bastion
Of conniving teeth
I love you because
You offer nothing
Not even the affectation
Of decency
And I in return
Can give nothing
Having been siphoned
Of both marrow and myth
We share a mutual enemy
Though I never address
Her by name she answers
Through the defacement
Of that which I hold dear
My heart
My safety
My sanity
Surrendered as stamps
To inhospitable nests
*
I am reading a book set in 19th Century China
mindlovemisery 