That Taste
LONGINGLOVEDESIRE
I miss the taste of your kiss
that wild, forbidden sweetness
that lingered long after I left.
I tried to wash it away with whiskey,
burn it out with cigarette smoke,
let rainwater rinse it from my skin
but it stayed, haunting every breath,
a ghost that clung to the edges of my mouth.
That last day,
I pressed my tongue to silence,
scrubbed my lips like they’d lied to me,
like they’d been cursed with memory.
I bit down until I bled,
hoping maybe the taste of iron
would replace that of you.
But even blood betrayed me
you were still there,
hidden in every word I tried not to say.
Nights grew cruel.
I’d wake with your name between my teeth,
your warmth in the air beside me,
your taste painted on my breath.
And every time I dreamt of you,
the world bent and burned
cities collapsing under the weight of wanting,
oceans rising just to drown the ache.
Now, I would destroy a nation,
topple gods, curse the heavens themselves
for just one more taste of you.
Let kingdoms turn to ash.
What is an empire, what is glory,
next to the sweetness I once knew?
One kiss could damn me,
and I would go willingly,
just to remember how your lips
made ruin feel like salvation.
