“This Is How You Must Love Me” by Bianca Spriggs

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do not look
.            as though you have already seen
.                        the reptile in me
.                        many-toothed and cold

do not wait
.            around for me to think of you
.                        more often
.                        than not

do not stop
.            to consider how you will cross
.                        my fleshly borders and once you do
.                        penetrate the bone

do not risk
.            moving closer than what
.                        I will ever allow
.                        or even ask of you

do not expect
.            me to behave as though my skin bears
.                        no scar tissue
.                        no hastily sutured wounds

do not assume
.            you will leave without a few abrasions
.                        or bruises or stitches
.                        of your own

do not speak
.            as though you desire me to grow soft
.                        to bloom then ripen
.                        over time

do not let on
.            that your constitution is less resolved
.                        and more vulnerable
.                        than mine

do not ask
.            to see my true nature
.                        unless you are prepared for me
.                        to see yours

-Bianca Spriggs

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