It's #tbt! Enjoy this great one from SWWIM Every Day's archives!
When does cohabitation become co-possession? You bat my hand away from my own fingers, tell me to quit picking at the layer of skin I’m peeling back from the bed around my thumb. I nod submissive, suck the blood, then sit on my own hands—a show of moderation. Like a child, I pay pretend reverence as if you were a parent, my part-creator. We switch roles at night over the sink: I tell you to be more gentle with your gums, use a lighter hand for brushing teeth. I’d argue oral health matters more than bitten cuticles, long-term, but what’s the use? Your body matters to my body and vice versa. Still, our hands are ultimately our own. We show love in the ways the ways we know how. Concern, a bird twittering just beyond the window. We look up, smile at her song, then go on drawing our own blood.
Jessica Lee’s poems have been published in The New Yorker, The American Poetry Review, Narrative, and Gulf Coast, among other journals. She holds an MFA from Vanderbilt University. Find her online at readjessicalee.com.
4/10 / Meet the Artist with visiting poet-in-residence Tyler Mills / The Library at The Betsy-South Beach, Miami Beach, FL / Live and Live-Streamed on Instagram Live/Facebook Live at @swwimmiami / 6:00 pm EST / Free
4/10 / Poetry Reading with visiting poet-in-residence Tyler Mills + local writer Jennifer Litt / The Library at The Betsy-South Beach, Miami Beach, FL / Live and Live-Streamed on Instagram Live/Facebook Live at @swwimmiami / 7:30 pm EST / Free
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