Peck

You have a big mouth, you know it?

How can I answer?

I want to scream, I bite my lip

It bleeds a little and tastes like metal

I ponder this and laugh

Shut your trap, button your lip

A chewed-up horror of a mouth

My throat squeezes shut

my mouth belongs to someone else

someone I don’t even know

My salty tears feel good stinging my lips

Why aren’t the walls falling in?

There is a beast in my gut

It’s ready to scrape its way out

My fingers fly up and cover my mouth

My throat is sore, and my lips are raw

I lick them

And feel the scabs under my tongue

My stomach is killing me

It’s boiling with anger

I open my mouth and take a deep breath

I scream, I scream.

I taste my own blood

I have a big mouth, I know it

And my bloody lips refuse

To let you forget it

This has meaning. Pain.

Won’t you give me a peck?