Ode to Asexual Libido
after Margaret F. Browne
the cure for hysteria finger on clit throat opening
for wandering womb hammered into such arterial
gold afternoon sunlight hot as names in the belly o gland
swelling breath satin stroke the labial murmur
-ation of birds splintering anxious pupil into ring
indigo rain above mountains dilating
o hand’s wet circle both disorder of desire
and treatment for not wanting anyone else in these sigh hips
arched into all that penitent sky pelvis
hinged up and down the impossible asexual girl ache faster
pulse a honeyed lock gasping vulva widening
carnivorous covenant the uterus flush and again
that alleviates pain that reminds how to howl o yes o god killed
and brought back broken to hum like a promise severed
at the daughter o femoral o wrist o vein pounding with
thirst if this is first praise then let every horizon shudder
and spit the cervix coughing lightning back to brain
through the jaws and thighs sugared as dirt
o cactus flowers opening o release the thunder into blood
a new word for tremble is burial
From You Bury the Birds in My Pelvis (Omnidawn, 2023) by Kelly Weber. Copyright © 2023 by Kelly Weber. Used with the permission of the publisher.