2-18-25
girl, what r u summoning
from the henceforth? from
the future? from your guts?
the yearn is a summons
for wet creation, long arm
winding into the ether,
looking, looking
like Jennifer’s body
we succubus
desire, we’re possessed, we’re waiting
for it all to rankel in our bodies!
lovehunger, touchache, the singsong
from the cloister of want.
i had forgotten the way it hurts.
after midnight my friend & i sat
in the dark car, doing the linger,
streetlit.
i was saying something about the way
the universe talks, i was saying,
i want to protect ur desire
when we saw the fox.
she came quick, only
for the length of a streetcorner.
there—gone,
like all language, like the neighborgod,
like she was proving a point to us all about
what it’s like to have the world
rile in you, talk to you again.
Tara Labovich (they/them) is a lecturer of English and Creative Writing at Iowa State University. Their multi-genre creative work explores questions of queerness, survivorship, and multicultural upbringing. Their writing is nominated for Best of the Net, and can be found in journals such as Salt Hill and the Citron Review.