Dee Thompson’s most recent poem to appear here was Sarah’s Eyes, published as part of Contributor Series 7: The Confessional Diary of Bone. This poem is an entirely different kind of tribute, most definitely a love poem.
Rescue
By Dee Thompson
I pushed through
Hot verdant green shoots
Sun splintering in
Tendrils of yellow splayed
Alive, insect percussion
Inhaling it like a drug–
I embrace the fecund altar–
Suddenly horror-filled, I spot–
Him, facedown, in a crater of dirt–
Hurt?
Red, bruised for sure, oh God!
I reach out my hand to his smooth skin,
Lean my face down.
Why did the flesh fall?
Was his cage not strong?
I lift him, brushing off the dirt, examining him, inhaling.
He is fragrant and sun warmed, unholy, sacred still.
Overcome with relief–I don’t even wash him–I BITE–
Nothing has ever tasted so delicious as his flesh.
Tomatoes taste of sun and magic.
I love it. You got me.