Copper on the Tongue

here’s the thing about people like me

we have mouths that hunger for the impossible meat

and eyes that spin like hurricanes

the problem with beasties with reaching teeth

is we don’t know where to stop

we bite our hands down to splintered bone

and spit venom in the eyes of those who’d muzzle us

my muscles weep for a sleep beyond time

but my heart trembles in the face of a knife

people like me

we are doomed to chew ourselves to gummy sinew

and scream in the burning color of an autumn sunset

and never quite have the taste

for copper on the tongue