& the first slip into clear running water by the moon. I want to be
a wild animal caught in the glimpse of your gaze & when you look
again I am gone. Make the memory of my body a flock of bats erupting.
A feral bark. Let the threat of myself prowl. I would like to live on
as the plummet in your guts when you stumble back from the clifftop.
Let me be vertigo. Let me be the want to jump. The crow song
in your throat. That orb of fire that melted the wax from your wings
& in the impossible hurtle you swore it was worth it. You’d do it again
if you could. Resurrection & riptides. So much inextinguishable blaze.
Or perhaps, just this once: sunrise, the light spilled over the grass.
It’s not warm yet but it’s on the way. Close your eyes & I’ll come to you.
The first touch of me, orange against your lids.
Photo credit: Anjula Schaub
Jane Flett is a Scottish writer based in Berlin. She is the author of the novel Freakslaw (Doubleday/Zando). Her poetry has been published in POETRY Magazine, Passages North, Magma, and the Best British Poetry. Jane is also the founder of Queer Stories Berlin.
