I can’t remember what I called it. 🤣

Written for VV Anthology. If you intend to submit and haven’t yet, look away now! 🙂

ladies’ luncheon:
shell crack and finger suck
strong red nippers 
powerless among these
white bones, nail crescents gleaming
 
each watches the others
lips crustacean shiny
pursed to kiss foreign flesh
and pale throats like larks
the rise and fall
such inappropriate slithering
easy as mothers’ milk

there’s conversation too
daintier than doilies while
in rouged and chapless cheeks
mutton is wetly tucked,
tongues released for lashing

and under the table
the maltese and the marmoset
trade views on goatee fads
their soft brown eyes
judgeless and impudent
among slender ankles
unwittingly bared

Image by Adriaen van Utrecht/Rijksmuseum