Attention

I have dreams in which I am stabbed while my lover looks on. Most times

it is he who has stabbed me. If he stabs me, it is an accident that

I want to happen. I want him to hold the knife between his fingers,

laugh and bite his lip. I want him to walk away so I can follow close behind, only for him to realize

he’s forgotten something that is supposed to be beside him, and he turns, and the knife

descends into my flesh, between my ribs. He cries out and covers his lips, touches me

more than he ever has before, noticing the sweat that cools my face,

the swaying of my body, how I want him to be something solid,

this attention to hold and have slick and oily and pumping

In the dream I forgive him but he does not forgive himself so I don’t tell him

I thank the knife and the scar— my lover fastened and scabbed over.

In the real world, he does not cook does not discuss,

insists the sky and the clock are better objects for his sharp focus

Terese Pierre has been previously published in Acta Victoriana, Collapsar and The Brasilia Review, among others. She is an editor for Young Voices Magazine, Lady Lazarus Journal and Augur Magazine. Instagram: @teresempierre, Twitter: @teresempierre

Photo by Luka Davitadze on Unsplash