Dante Fuoco

Shortly after my girlfriend agrees to an open relationship

my crotch itches

Her joke: Maybe you have crabs!

Inside me a copper anchor 

plunks

I float to the bathroom 

first pube I pluck: 

glassy legs scamper in place

body fat & maroon with my blood

In the shower 

hours in 

naked 

infested like me

she caresses my skin

keeps finding more nits 

salt specks 

stuck to my pits   bush   chest   scalp   ass 

unhatched shafts of hair 

only she can see

Tweezing my hole 

she sighs This is love 

I wince at her touch 

how she culls

my unborn brood 

bred from my blood 

I am losing 

my love 

Yes 

I am the father

crab 

I clawed what I could 

 

I lather my lover 

with poison 

and she lathers 

me 

Two lovers hunting 

for life 

we haven’t yet killed