Rebekah M Rykiel

What Is Left of Want

polka-dotted shorts parade around my home. your
toothbrush on my sink, I’m waiting
your tongue in my ear. I can hear the tastebuds

push my name out. your fingerprints are on my counter
and the cereal box’s maze is complete. you took my
pen, used its ink.

your artwork to my fridge. be gentle has
no place in poetry. intensity is all we know. pressure
buzzes in every cell
your teeth have grazed. i wish

you didn’t leave
hair on my couch. i wish you vacuumed
your crumbs instead of sprinkling them
inside. i want you
to take your coat when you leave. my apartment

is closed now. i don’t want
to feel you anymore. it takes seven
years for your hands to leave my flesh. i wish you didn’t leave

yet. come back and keep your underwear
in my dresser. pick up the toothpaste
and use it one more time. leave your socks
to dry on the counter next to your Trix

i haven’t touched since you solved
the box’s puzzle. let me clean you
off my face, let me take your hand and lead
you back to the pillows. let’s keep
the curtain open this time.

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Rebekah M Rykiel is a poet from Maryland and a student at Salisbury University. She has publications in and forthcoming in Vernacular Press and The Scarab Literary Magazine at Salisbury University. She’s an assistant editor for Poet Lore. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys watching movies and seeing her friends and family.