It’s your turn
to wake up at 2 am
because you’re reaching
from inside a dream
to find a nothing thick
as cotton candy,
hold my sweet absence in your hands,
lick your fingers
savor a melting carnival
bite pink fluff, swallow every single crystal
and think about me
biting your shoulder, torture yourself
with stickiness between your fingers,
the aftermath of sugar and
heat
to wake up at 2 am
because you’re reaching
from inside a dream
to find a nothing thick
as cotton candy,
hold my sweet absence in your hands,
lick your fingers
savor a melting carnival
bite pink fluff, swallow every single crystal
and think about me
biting your shoulder, torture yourself
with stickiness between your fingers,
the aftermath of sugar and
heat
Shannon Barringer teaches English Lang in a public school in NC. She is half of the DIY MFA program known as Tuesday University. She is currently finishing her first chapbook, titled Attachment Wound.