lingerie 

in secret i keep a coral reef.
all my neighbors guarded 
their haunted houses
& they knew nothing about
what a silk dress can make
of a raven. we ate berries
from the hands of our angels.
here "we" is a way of saying
i have had so many hands.
whirling. the gyroscopes 
beneath my skin. closing the blinds
like shutting the eyes 
of an old god right after he has passed.
every living room is a crime scene.
here is where i have gone to be dangerous.
drink blood from wine flutes.
throw darts into my own mouth.
i took a video of myself
to turn into a shrine. the cave
foamed at the mouth. wrapped each bat
in holiday paper. i am gifting 
myself to the purples only found
in the dead of night. no one else was there
to see me. only the mirrors 
licking their memories clean 
to make space for whatever a body becomes
alone & briefly without a master.