drawing / blood

Tayler D. Waring

as though he knows      this story
begins and ends            w/ empty
chests           the fat man fumbles
as he penetrates        skin, sweaty
as though this is       the first time
a man has entered         a woman
only to take her blood     and left
w/ everything           he came for:

unfathomable red         seeps sap
-slow, swelling glass    w/ riddles &
hemoglobin        w/ great cowardice
I reject               the confusion
of needles          (their nominal
violence)           & draw a treasure
map gently, w/ pencil       (it goes
without saying: if you’ve reached
the heart, you’ve gone too far).

Taylor D. Waring is a poet / musician from Oshkosh, Wi. He works as an English Tutor, Bar Tender, and Record Store Clerk. When he's not working, he can be found playing with his bands Baba Yaga and Butte des Morts or at yoga class. His work has appeared in Pacific Review and Coup d'Etat, and is forthcoming in Wisconsin Review.