Inside

human interaction inherently

is violent;

in order to relate to a person

you must enter them.

it's not simple, but it can be done

in many ways

none of them leaves the person undisturbed

the external openings are

most obvious, of course.

we kiss, touch, fuck, and float words

in a desperate hope that we

transmit more than bacteria, saliva

and other secretions

we suffer a thousand little deaths and rebirths,

yet these are all foreplay to the grand act -

a pounding on their chest

before plunging your hand

through skin, muscle, ribs and all

tearing through all the layers of protection

until you reach it

the first touch is almost their death, the squeeze

seals it with a rapturous scream

as the beating stops, you are jarred back to sense

you pull your hand back, horrified

watching the blood drip from your fingertips

puddling on the floor

one last ecstatic shiver, moan, and their body collapses.

you stand, stunned, a bit numb

after some minutes, the corpse begins slowly

flexing, moving, testing itself

reanimated, rising to their feet, slowly raising their eyes to

meet yours with heated gaze

their hand rises to your cheek, gently.

you feel through their fingertips:

"my darling, you have spilled my blood,

it is yours now"

and then your eyes widen in shock, your head

dizzy with everything you've ever felt

as the other hand tears into your chest

repeating the bloody ritual

you realize this is not death, but the intersection

of everything with everything

vision white, mind seething too much to understand

you collapse to the floor

lying for some time, unable to channel everything

intersecting with everything

as bits of your mind slowly start to return,

your eyes open heavily

and find standing above you, timid, slightly afraid;

a creature who shares

parts of the same inside