Eat me (or take a bite)

by Hayden Finkelshtain


and I don’t mean it

               sexually.

Swallow me whole

and I mean it quite

               literally

Get me snug and cozy inside you

               and I swear to god I mean that not in the way you think I do.


This is a cry for help,

               a mommy issue slathered in quirk.

Let me be accountable for nothing but one dish one time

               (I disgust myself)


So gorge on me please and chew me gently

               – like the cat when he’s playing (I disgust myself, by the way)

Scratch my arms and send me off to easy sleep.

Hug me so hard my bones crumble and then nurse my achy joints by cramming me down your gullet into the dark and

               (though I am disgusting)

not in the way that sounds.


It’s just that I’ve hit my terrible twos and the teething my god the teething makes my gums so tender.

I digress.


Let me keep this simple:

I’m but a Terrible Two and

               (though I am disgusting)

I need you to swallow me whole.


Hayden is a Toronto-based actor and writer; recent work has been published by the League of Canadian Poets ('Poetry Pause') and Stink Eye Magazine. Hayden's poetry has appeared in print with JLRB Press and Clown House Arts Collective. Follow @rudimentpoetry on Instagram.