CEREMONIAL IN THE MOUTH OF DESIRE

                    by Carly Joy Miller 

He cannot shut his eyes to the dark
machine of the world. I cannot release

my hips from the holy grip hoisting me up
or pulling low. Not his hands, this man

beside me. Little stranger, tender as a bride.
No. This man marks me with his mouth.

Animal how he moves toward the din
of hunger. Devourment, a dedication.
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photo by by Felicia Cheng Photography

Carly Joy Miller is the author of Ceremonial (Orison Books, 2018), selected by Carl Phillips as the winner of the 2017 Orison Poetry Prize, and the chapbook Like a Beast (Anhinga Press, 2017), winner of the 2016 Rick Campbell Chapbook Prize. Her work has appeared in The Adroit Journal, Blackbird, Boston Review, Gulf Coast, West Branch and elsewhere. She is a contributing editor for Poetry International and a founding editor of Locked Horn Press.