Peaches

shadows drool in my garden
like milk and honey
smearing beneath the skin
and swimming through the rock
like eggs to eat a rose
bitter with diamond petals
I tongue the smell of rust
and watch the water moan
ripping hair from my throat
but I do not scream
as the lather licks my forest red
the blood on the moon
sweats quick up my dress
like a peach boiling juice into rain
it shines raw above me
and burns my bed bare

Charlene Taylor