Poems Niederngasse Patrick Carrington

Patrick Carrington

Cut of the Briar Rose

You want to run home, now
that alibis lose their sense.

PTA meetings don't run
through midnight, but
the mind-changing flavors
of our banquet, our bowls
of dessert and excess, lay
your keys back on my bed.

You pick your scarlet scalpel
from the vase, hand me
your own gift and shut your eyes
as the fine cut of the briar rose
tickles your white thighs.

The red trickle and sting
of salt as my sliding
tongue crosses and covers
the slices, feeding,
as it feeds you the nourishment
you need. You wince

as I whisper, words
moist and prescient,
shiver as I push, impaling
you and your fears
like a peach on a king's dagger,

royal fruit, the smoothest slip
of skin as you return your honey
to its father.

Take this night home with you.

Hang it from the lovemarks
on your neck, dangle it
from your bruised ears.

You will not care
what he thinks anymore,
when you wear me like a diamond.

Patrick Carrington teaches creative writing in New Jersey and is the poetry editor of the web-based art & literary journal Mannequin Envy. His poetry can be found in many print and on-line journals, including The New Hampshire Review, Confrontation Magazine, The DMQ Review, Slipstream, The Raintown Review, Tiger’s Eye, Timber Creek Review, Mobius, and The Neovictorian/Cochlea.
email: Patrick Carrington