Red Moon

He was iridescent
friendly finger fuck
in the bathroom stall

juju spellbound, let him
taste your amulet, come
onto you with adoration
mama gonna give it up.

You move
soft-shoe thrumming
in the August heat
hands on your waist
mouth all agape.

Breathes into
your skin something
sepulchral and sticky
tongue rattle shaking
in your ear

he was blackleg
to your restlessness
a cheat is a cheat is

a pocketful
of miniature fences
poking into skin.
Or player pianos
in windpipes playing

the same song, he was
a tired waltz
in slanted rooms.
Tin roof tongue,

back aisle brawler
pulling pearls til the walls
streaked, fingers numb.

He was pins to your doll
black liner round your lid,
something to strap on
and take off, a tricky clasp
that won't fall from your neck.

back to issue

Kelly Lorraine Andrews' poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Ninth Letter, PANK, and Prick of the Spindle, among others. She is the author of four chapbooks, most recently "The Fear Archives" (Two of Cups Press, 2017) and "My Body Is a Poem I Can't Stop Writing" (Porkbelly Press 2017). She received her MFA in poetry from the University of Pittsburgh, and she coedits the online journal Pretty Owl Poetry. Additional information about her publications, along with a slideshow of her cats, can be found at kellyandrewspoetry.com.