42

i like raspberries on my fingertips,
stained red and sweet 
my lips tingle from off-brand seltzer 

shoes shuffle across the floor, 
wood laminate underneath worn-out reeboks
steps leading upstairs

fingertips looking for a drawer
to pull out
too soon to tell 

it smells like purple and perfume
luminescent, flickering 
like tongues and candlelight  

on top of it all,
three is my lucky number,
writing my name on your teeth

a cat’s cradle in the bedroom,
hot breath on a pillow
not everything fast is battery-powered

Ruthie Barakat

vibrator? hardly know her.