reptile show

i keep details about 
the reptiles 
my secret
i won't tell you how many i have
because this is my house
with its glossy scales 
you are just visiting 
when you go home
i have them to talk to
if you don't ask about my reptiles
i won't ask about yours 
that's how this works
but to tell you the truth 
you seem like gila monster 
kind of man
& i love you for that
do you ever shed your skin
like they i do?
i wish i could see it
bunched up in the corners
of your house 
like stockings 
when i was younger my dad  
took me to a reptile show
a whole hall full of people
showing off their reptile-ness 
pulling up sleeves, 
their scales underneath
opening mouths to reveal 
thin fangs
blue tongues
i knew then i would
grow up to be like them 
my snakes sun themselves
mid-day on the windowsills
so sometimes i lay out with them
i lay long
tongue flicking at the air
they crawl under 
the bed at night
at be near the heater 
that's where they are right now
do you hear them? 
don't bother them
just focus on me
did your father ever
take you to a reptile show?
everyone's father should
that's a shame you didn't
you would have liked it
you would look good with scales
would you touch them?
you can touch me
you can feel my scales
& i can feel yours
we can lay near the heater
with the snakes in the dark
but i won't tell 
you how many i have
that's the whole fun of it
has anyone told you that
you have four fingers?
i noticed
climb me 
call me tree branch 
call me your terrarium
walk me like a glass wall
blue tongue on my ceiling 
we reptile houses
have to love each other
because we understand
what it's like to
not know how many we have
men who love men with scales
i have to tell you 
another secret though
i want more 
i need more
more snakes
& lizards & maybe frogs 
& salamanders too
i want more
if you fuck me again
we can 
count them