Michelle S. Lee
The joy in us comes from the sex in our words
Naked lies in the way we move
our mouths like fish slipping fast
and taking in water
and silt – sifting through the detritus
the other has to offer. You swim
along the skin of my psyche
in ripples, pushing me to think
beyond the tales I have told myself
and I circle back and catch you
in the tide. Sirens once called sailors
onto rocks, and I pull you into pools
where scars have solidified
into coral, where it hurts
to breathe, but your gills open
further to crash me inside
like so much sea, and I let you
carry me adrift, out with you
to dark water where we can
no longer see land.
Bio
Michelle S. Lee is an associate professor of composition, creative writing, and literature at Daytona State College. She received her MA in creative writing and PhD in English Literature from the University of Texas at Austin. Recently, her work has been published with Northwind magazine, Architrave Press, and The Flagler Review, and will be included in an upcoming anthology by Red Bridge Press. For more information on what she's up to, visit doctormichellelee.blogspot.com.