LOVE LANGUAGES
by LEVI CAIN
peeling oranges in the 90 degree
heat of the red line. folding my
hand into the pocket of
your winter coat after smoothing
down my knuckles with the
good lotion, the one with shea
butter we got downtown where
the cashier tracks me
thru miles of kanekalon and
bonnets and you say under your
breath she better not. grip
my elbow with your
mother-touch. sit slumped
on the couch, hear the shriek
of your laugh and commit
it to memory. tell any man
looking he better not. one manicured
nail defeats the leftover broccoli
spine between my mirrored
gap teeth. a camphor-soaked
vigil at my bedside. extra on
my plate. smoothing down
my edges with castor oil
and luck. how you throw hope
like a javelin. how i am never so glad
to be looked at as when i am
under your heat-lamp
gaze. how much like a hymn
you are. how much like
the sun is squeezed into
the very centimeters of you.
by LEVI CAIN
peeling oranges in the 90 degree
heat of the red line. folding my
hand into the pocket of
your winter coat after smoothing
down my knuckles with the
good lotion, the one with shea
butter we got downtown where
the cashier tracks me
thru miles of kanekalon and
bonnets and you say under your
breath she better not. grip
my elbow with your
mother-touch. sit slumped
on the couch, hear the shriek
of your laugh and commit
it to memory. tell any man
looking he better not. one manicured
nail defeats the leftover broccoli
spine between my mirrored
gap teeth. a camphor-soaked
vigil at my bedside. extra on
my plate. smoothing down
my edges with castor oil
and luck. how you throw hope
like a javelin. how i am never so glad
to be looked at as when i am
under your heat-lamp
gaze. how much like a hymn
you are. how much like
the sun is squeezed into
the very centimeters of you.
Levi Cain is a gay Black writer from Boston, MA. Their first chapbook, “dogteeth.”, a series of poems documenting the relationship between eating disorders and sexual trauma, will be published by Ursus Americanus Press this year. In addition to this, they have been nominated for the 2019 Pushcart Prize for both poetry (“Gloria in Excelsis Dyke”, Vagabond City”) and fiction (“Fast”, Mikrokosmos Journal), as well as Best of the Net (“Inhertiance”, The Hunger Journal).