the shape of sex by Glennys Egan

when you hold it in your hand
it is a lemon
yellow and oblong

you feel its weight in your palm
smell the fragrant rind of intimacy

now extract its bright nectar
with a whetted blade
taste the anticipation

how deliberately he ties your wrists
ripe with desire

what sweet thoughts you allow
as he feeds on your citrus
about what it all might mean

until he leaves without ceremony
your throat stinging and bedsheets soured

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Raised in the Canadian prairies, Glennys Egan lives in Ottawa, where she works for the government like everyone else. Her poems have appeared in Funicular Magazine, The Aurora Journal, Taco Bell Quarterly, and several other lovely places. You can find her and her dog, Boris, online at @gleegz.