I project your features across oriels and wait. Names wander in
And out of lubricated orifices. The orphaned rosary, the pinprick,
Extraditing me, and you’re observing the suppression happening in
My throat. The collapsible chest, the clock murmuring in my head and
You keelhaul me. The intimate dance and pestilent frames, earthen and
Soaking wet, a ligament I legislate against, bound to happen, set me free or
On fire, everything within me is prenatal and I want to sleep, repel you against
Your will, exasperate you, dream you away, crush you with my uncontrollable
Thoughts. Your fraternal touch crawls over my skin like a secret with a stomping
Following, and you bind yourself to me, trying to contain me in your vicious circles.
“Sarah Bernardt” by Georges Clairin (1843-1919)