Contributor: Lena Ziegler

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the acid tongue
tracing, forming,
my misused words
draws, gentle
steely
flames
from the mouth
of my blackberry-stained lips

nihilistic
these words
unfounded
mistaken
they cross
in
pathways
and air streams
and lullabies
of
forbidden terms

with my soul
right next to me
my soul
within in me
my soul
lingering in the hollow
canals
of
my resistance
but
what is this pain
but persistence

vanishing in time
and space
juggling
man
and love
and indifference
paving waves of grace
for my penalty

my repentance

because
you are love
because
we are love

I know this, my love

words melt beneath
warmth
of blackberry-stained kisses
dismissing
cool
iron
bullets
piercing hearts
of resistance
and
what is pain
if not persistence
is it love
or is it
insistence


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