Why don’t they tell me why fevers persist
and sleepless tragedies trace your lips?
Empty sheets; so I pull at your skin in dreams
but sleep alone and grind my teeth instead.

Sleepless tragedies do trace your lips
so I paw at your maladies, lick at your wounds
yet I sleep alone, grinding my teeth instead
of gripping your skin in a flush of lust.

I paw at your maladies and lick at your wounds.
Empty sheets between pulling at your skin in dreams
and gripping your skin in a flush of lust–
Why don’t they tell me why fevers persist?

 

[ pantoum. ]