Generational Addictions

by Julianna May


I feel them

   call to me:

lusts of blood

             flesh

   inebriation.


Sirens of the mind

   made like this

     in this

   image


where images of naked

women lying enjoyment stick

like coagulants in blood

   and the alcohol

               it’s stained

     with.


I am stained

               in women

like twisted helixes

wrapping around each

 other

               craving

more


craving to fall prey

to sweet liquor

from down the street

crashing my cycle

hit a telephone pole

and run

               yet still lose

a license to live


my mouth opens for

               the drink but

tastes blood when

               biting my tongue


               then calls out

     for more. watch it drain

in the baby blue tub

               wrap my arm

in a sheer pink and blue

               head band

so people may think i’m

metal


               not deranged

or stained


this trifold addiction,

               circular in nature


the life cycle of

               a mantis


if the one she ate after


was herself.


Julianna May (she/her) is an ex-horse girl, ex-Christian, and ex-hetero. She loves teaching English and ranting about Shakespeare. She has previously been published in Crepe & Penn Magazine, Nightingale and Sparrow Magazine, Wingless Dreamer Anthology, and others. Instagram: juliannamaypoetry Twitter: JuliannaMay1216