Text

fingertips moving
over ribs that have
become obscured
over time
hiding beneath the
skin
fat creeping into
the body
little girl body gone

i remember a time
when food used
to burn like bile on
my tongue
how do you eat?
the taste is too rich
like chocolate cake
left to molder in
the oven
blackened crumbs
left on my tongue
mustard on lettuce
breakfast
lunch and
dinner
mustard in blobs
that spell out the
feel of my ribs
the taste of thin
thin
the word stretches
out on my tongue
and dies there
clogging my throat
with its bones
a word to be spat
out along with
my lunch
paper napkins full
of half chewed food
divining rods
that lead to the space
between my thighs

the space he liked
to fit one leg
between
his eyes full of a
mouth of teeth
dull flat teeth
that tore chunks
out of me
my breasts
gone into his belly
where they would
sit
nipple erect
scars twisting into
words and shapes
that spelled out my other
name
cunt
i wonder if they
still are there
lying in acid
my chest is still
flat
i like seeing how
the looks of men
glance off of me
onto the next woman
invisible girl
mouth tight with
hunger

the space
between my
thighs has
disappeared
the numbers on
the scale have
multiplied
when men grab
my breasts
they come up
with more than
nipples that pucker
still, the scars
continue to spell
out words and shapes
he returned my
breasts to me
they came in a
cardboard box
with my name
slanting in thick
black letters
thick as my fingers
the ones that wrap
around my cups
of tea
and the cakes
my gut twisting
and expanding

there was no return
address

i finger the flesh
on my ribs
and wonder where
they hunger has
gone
its slipped from
between my fingers
and into my
cunt
i welcome it with
meaty thighs
and keep it inside
of me