1 poem
by Catherine Ragsdale
Catherine Ragsdale is a Texan writer living in Baltimore. You can find her at catherineragsdalewriting.com or in your kitchen brewing tea.
NEVER BEEN KISSED
no not between sheets
a newspaper on a bench
not by the sea no I cry
in the stairwell and don’t
kiss the stonewall the line
on the card where I sign
my name not the scar on
his chin no not the girl down
the street though I sleep
in her bed no not
even god his tongue is too
holy it would go straight
down my throat a wafer
not my own teeth
my lips do not touch I bare
them
once while on
vacation I put my foot
up on a bench to tie
my shoelaces I leaned
down and by accident
my cupids bow struck
my knee made a sound
like an old bell thudding
glasses clinking in cheers
and when they read
the stories about first
kisses I cry because
I have none left to
give forgive me no
I did not mean it
ALWAYS BEEN KISSED
yes spoons and pots
the corner of the room
each spider that had
strung its web using the
walls as their support sure
the raised letters on books
too sometimes I swallow
the pages yes I read them
aloud to the girl down
the street I burp them
onto his pelvic bone he
laughs and then says yes
god sometimes you bite
but it still counts as kissing
because it does not
matter
once while on
the phone I forgot to be
kissing and wrote down
a message in a bottle
and by accident said it
instead down by the sea
I love you like the waves
aren’t mouths or his
ears arms and abdomen
quickly I pressed my lips
against each other to
shut up stopper cork it
please I have more to
give forgive me yes
I did not mean it