This Kind of Hunger
Nicole W. Lee | Poetry
And how else to exit the year
…………but with the wet entering every
orifice, its cold clear teeth biting
…………into my skin softened like a bolus.
Your body on the balcony beside
…………me, gummed of its meat. Because
that’s what the year has done
…………to us—sucked us slick as a rib.
And what a clearing. Tears filled
…………my ears till there was no more sound.
But despite the deafening, believe
…………me when I say: this is not drowning.
I place my face against your stomach,
…………mouth its loudening growl. Because
I’ve waited all my life for this kind
…………of plunder. Because I’ve waited all
my wife for this kind of flood, so
…………when the thunder comes, all
that thrums is your thin bone
…………tonguing us—no, stunning us—
with the hunger of a new beginning.
Nicole W. Lee is a poet of Chinese (Teochew and Hakka) Malaysian Australian background. Her poetry has been published in Meanjin and received scholarships and fellowships from Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Tin House Summer and Winter Workshops, Palm Beach Poetry Festival, AWP, and Miami Book Fair. Find more of her work at nicolewlee.com.