Letter from a Mistress

I was a bird when you wanted a wife.
So I flew, collecting what I knew of wives—
hotel keys to unlock
the lace they lay across their down-
less bodies, champagne
corks to keep their mouths
from buzzing all the flowers.
You made me a hummingbird. Blur
of desire. One word. Finish
what you started. Here is where
you hung your promises. Hear them
hiss across my body.

- Ash Bowen (from Pebble Lake Review)

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