A Poem by Colleen Colkitt

Kiss/Bruise

It took every red blood cell in me
To force my lips to form the words
To tell you to leave that night

It took all of the space between my lungs,

Bloody and dark,
To tame the taught tightness of my heartbeat

And it took each inch of the black heels

I was stumbling on
Not to fall back into your arms

Because,

Would you kiss the darkness between my ribs?

Would you gives names to every paper crane I strung from my ceiling?
Would you look in my closet and love
Each demon dangling from clothes hangers?

Sigh, roll your eyes, and rub your mouth.

You flex your calves

Flee into the night
Where you came from
Back to your mattress that rests on the floor
Back into the easy arms of
Those smiling smoking girls
Who answer when you call
Who leave their mark on your neck,
Claiming you,
Owned.

But when you call me,

At three
seventeen
in the morning

“Come over.”

I’m already shoving my black heels on

Tucking regretful red blood cells
Tightly between my lungs, and
Giving your name to a paper crane on my ceiling
Swinging like a pendulum
(Or a hanged man)
Ready to make a mark of my own.

Colleen Colkitt is a freelance writer of fiction and poetry. She lives in Buffalo, New York with her family. She will graduate from SUNY Brockport with degrees in Creative Writing and Communications. Her work has recently been published in Bare Hands Poetry, Muddy River Poetry Review, and Poetry Bulawayo. Look for Ms. Colkitt in Daily Love, as she was featured on the site in February.