Dripping like honey

Celina Bagchi '24

i’ll kill you with a caramel touch and bittersweet

gaze, to remind you how momentary

my affections are, how temporary i

always have been. i stick to nothing at all; i am

a whisper in the north wind that blows you

away from my grasp. in my dreams, my body is a temple

made for worshiping you, and your

skin becomes the sky

starred with freckles i wish i could live in

for all eternity. in my dreams, i am swallowed by

eyes like molten gold and matcha, flecked with constellations

in the shape of your name. in my dreams, i am god’s poet and

you are the muse to move my pen. in my dreams, i drip like

salty tears in sun-bleached hair

that you kiss so softly. in my dreams, i am

nothing at all.

you think in the shape of colors that don’t exist, and i think in

the shape of our bodies pressed close. you think like

a wordshaker, newfangled and saturated by

unfamiliar heartbeats thrumming in my chest. i wish i was

a melodic breeze to caress your tired face; i wish i was enough to make you

feel at home amongst the walls of my mind, in the

rooms filled with old books and sun-dappled trees, like

dreams that slip from my earthly grasp and into your

honeyed embrace.

my feet are blistered from walking

miles in your shoes, but you’d never know it

and i’ll wear the scars with pride because who the hell am i

to fight your effervescent glow?

you built a shrine beneath my eyelids, and i cherish

every sweet burst of pain you inflict--it is

my greatest honor to be hurt by you