Raven

This is a diagram of a girl,
lick of tongues, bones, hyacinths.
A seduction of lace and balconies.
So easy to be lost in the violent
patchwork of her thoughts.
The haunting curve of his mouth
at her ear. She hangs above him
on her scarlet trapeze, cardinal
as an ibis. Red as sin. You lure
me with suicide and pearl buttons.
A pocket watch sunk to the
bottom of a well. Meanwhile
I pray on staircases. Turn my
head to the wall and remember.
My dreams riddled with thimbles.
With tiny violins. You’ll gorge me
on satin gloves and opera masks.
On stardust and saxophones.
The scarf round the bedpost
translucent as a peach. His
fingers embossing the valley
of her thighs, where her wrists
yearn for impossible cruelties.