i need you frightened
by nat raum

hey jude it’s me listen / i’ve been seized by something i can’t sweat out / and not just abject terror i will expire and fossilize here just like this / frost on cowhide boots sinking in silt / cartilage of untucked nose chilled to core / flesh blue-as-bruise / you told me last time you needed me hopeless / quivering / gaunt and haggard / crossed-out eyes and broken down frames / marrow sucked clean / you’d told me i’d know once i’d woken up and found my way back to you / once i hurtled skyward / gale-force / whipped through slipstreams to fall fifty-seven yards south of where you stand / gossamer ivory gown and charcoal sash fluttering in sea-air / you told me i’d know / you told me i’d wake and feel tugs like magnet to pole / anyway i don’t know if this will even go through / i mean i guess it could be too late by the time it does / not trying to be dramatic it’s just / if you need me hopeless i think i need you teeth-chattering / shivering down spine / i think i need you frightened

nat raum (b. 1996) is a queer disabled artist and writer from baltimore, md. they are the editor-in-chief of fifth wheel press, a queer literature and art space. nat is an avid fan of ambient music, the witcher 3: wild hunt, noise-cancelling headphones, and bisexual lighting, preferably all at once. find them online: natraum.com/links.

Image by René Bittner from Pixabay.