tamed

local, not domestic,

feet where the taxes pave,

from the tip of my nose,

to the back of my eyes,

where light becomes pulse,

light breathing heavy,

a quickening, a tightening,

caution dripping off my back,

ripping off of every surrogate’s uterus,

time’s snakeskin leash on my neck-

like birdsong amid trees,

your breath in a breeze,

the spark beneath the switch,

thought beneath the twitch,

just the flicker of your lighter

to turn me to steam.