True love comes from
more than the heart
it’s the streams of marrow
leaking through withered bones
true love slips into my ears
it is a death rattle
soft, wet
it pulls my brain out and irons
the wrinkles and creases
true love haunts the cave of my stomach
full of vampire moths infesting the pouch
the little messengers of love free
from their cocoons
but not free from me
true love takes your heart captive
it twists the arteries into knots
and comes regurgitating out your mouth
a beating heart spat into a demitasse glass
go on now
drink it up
Lilura Chacez (they/them) is a black lesbian based in Brooklyn with a deep interest in writing about body horror, mommy issues, and the loneliness that lives in the MTA transit system. They have poetry published in Ebony Tomato Collective and an excerpt of their novel published in Girls Write Now 2023 Anthology series, On the Other Side of Everything. When they aren’t writing they’re trying to keep their sweet potato seedlings alive and scorching their tongue with spicy food.
