Found Thing

come here

I said it once and the city heard it

the pavement heard it

the man three doors down

pulling the shutter down

heard the cost of it

the specific frequency

of a woman

calling to another woman

in the dark

come here

the street at 2am is sodium light

on the curve of a shoulder

on the deliberate walk

of a woman who has paid

to be standing here

moving towards

exactly what she wants

your hands already moving

before I finish the sentence

your hands knowing

without asking

the curve of the hip

the held breath

the place where the skin

runs warm and thin

and answers

I have your collar in my hand

I am not gentle about it

you don't need gentle

you need the other thing

the honest thing

the thing I've been thinking about

since the bar

since the cigarette

since the first time

you looked at me

like a problem

you'd already solved

and I looked back

like I'd already said yes

and thought nothing more of it

which was everything

your weight against mine

worth every year it cost

every quiet invoice

paid in private

without receipt

the body I have paid for

in ways I don't tell strangers

is here

is open

is every room

you thought was locked

something comes out of you

older than words

the sound the body makes

when it stops performing

being a body

I know that sound

I have spent years

learning to make it

that catch in the throat

low and animal

and mine

the city outside

does not intervene

the siren goes by

and there is just

your mouth

your hands

the weight of you

finding me

finding me

in the dark

your mouth

on the soft of it

the specific give

of this body

under yours

learning each part

like something

worth knowing

by heart

you take your time

with all of it

like someone who knows

exactly what they are doing

with a found thing

like someone

who does not intend

to stop