Punctured thoughts
fly from your page, splintered
like thorns that pierce clean through
my absolute obedience to no one,
celebrated spirit of defiance.

Plainly said,
you get under my skin.

Throbbing, swelling,
inner discomfort grows
as vulnerability is exposed.
 
I bleed forgetfulness.
Color floods my cheeks.
All at once, I remember I am.

Pleasure erases
pain’s trace. I surrender.
 
Your questions
lodge themselves in me, press into
soft tissue, awakening me. I fold and fall
open as crimson petals; priorities
rearranged, essence pricked.