we bare bloodied teeth and wish to be kissed

Mya Sweeney

5 minute read

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Teach this

i was born stained in red,
basking in the color of blood and furious fires,
feet charred black from dipping into the embers, licking
flames,
and smiling with viciousness seeping from the points of my
teeth.
i was born not to be a lover but to be a fighter,
to scream battle cries and throw insults
instead of whispering ballads and gifting compliments
the way you do to me.
i was born from a mother tired of fighting,
tired of running and tired of fighting
to preserve a youth that was ripped from her hands,
left with nothing more than stale air and poisoned water.

you were born cleansed in white,
swimming in a divine color built only for gods and snow,
your palms glued together and your tongue out
to taste a purity i never had the privilege of consuming
into a sinful bloodstream.
you were born to love and to give,
to sing your woes and kiss your thoughts goodnight
instead of burning those who wronged you
the way i have done my entire life.
you were born from a mother ready to fight,
a mother who said yes when she wanted so desperately to say 
no.
when she wanted to scream her midnight words and let her 
throat run raw
but instead gifted you the fire that was put out within her so 
long ago.

we were born in both sin and prayers,
water and fire, repelling and compelling,
wishing we had everything our eyes wandered to,
but knowing that it is a butterfly.
a thing so majestic to a chipped eye
but too quick for our tired hands to catch.
but we were birthed with red for teeth,
blood and rage growing and biting what we want most.

so we bare our bloodied teeth and wish to be kissed,
while knowing we are about to feast on a butterfly,
yearn for the white in a person’s teeth and the purity
we lack deep in our bones.
we bare our bloodied teeth and wish to be kissed,
using iron fists instead of velvet gloves,
hit rather than caress,
push because we cannot pull what our eyes wander to,
what our hearts beat so mercilessly for.

but we bare our bloodied teeth and wish to be kissed
by one another because we both have what we want.
and blood may mingle with blood,
sin may mix with sin,
but we have each other’s prayers on the tips of our tongues
and purity is in the eye of the beholder,
but sin mixed with blood is tasted in our lips.

but i think we were born
longing to taste that scarlet metal
on the skin of our lips
and the tips of our tongues
because who else is born with red for teeth
and wishes to be kissed?