i left you a note, just read it

Lovers, when in love, trace lies on each others’ bodies,
and we are no different, using our tongues soft and sweet
to write reminders, like you are—forearm, neck, breast—a notebook
allow yourself to remember memories we created of
conversations we misremembered from the moments we lived them
find yourselves in the stories i wrote by making you weak until
you were malleable like clay softened by the wetness of my tongue
remember the tension of my fingers as i shaped us into a story
go ahead, hold your skin to the light and read what is written
the words will glisten though now crossed out, an addendum
from a woman i’ve never met—a parenthetical exploit—
you can still cringe despite the numbness i left with you

and when i see you, the flavors i crave seem unfamiliar
different from the memories i wrote and rewrote in days that passed us
the words i’ve been trapping between my teeth
are not the lies we labelled them. it is truth
that forks my tongue and makes me dangerous. i grit my teeth
as i arch my back to search for the false words i know you wrote.

• Category: Poetry