Unholy Hunger by Katherine Kier

Unholy Hunger Katherine Kier the blood shed from biting my tonguetastes bitterbut you like it that waythe blood shed from the fruit between my thighsfilled with primordial recordsmetallic and clusteredrepulses youyet you wish to devour the secrets of the universeoh, the ironyyou name me temptress,then tremble at the spellyou begged to be cast underyou pray to forget mewhile carving my silhouetteinto your every loverhow many shrineswill you build from my silencebefore you admityou wanted me screaming?you speak of me in shadows,yet chase my ghost through every threshold—bride of Hades,Lilith’s grin beneath your sheets,Eve’s bite still fermenting in your gutyou call me chaosbut drink from my wellwhen your gods stop answeringI am the motherof your hungerthe altarand the ashyou bury me in storieswhere I bleed for your redemptionbut I do not die—I multiplyin every cracked mirroryou avoid at dawnyou dream of drowning in me,then wake with fists clenched,ashamed of the softnessthat split you openyou built your manhoodfrom my refusals—each “no” a nail,each glance a flameyou saw my powerand mistook it for permissionto conquerbut it was never conquest,only a mirrorreflecting what you buriedbeneath the armor—a boy with shaking hands,confusing possessionfor proof of worthyou call it lovebut it’s hungera gnawing needto disappear inside meso you don’t have to meetyour own abyssand when at lastyou find me unmoved,my back turnedlike a moon out of reach,you will screaminto the dark you made of metear at the soilsearching for the rootsof what you tried to ownbut I am not there—only echoes and dust,the scent of my leavingwoven into your breathyou will unravelthread by thread,your myths rottingin your mouthand I—I will rise from your ruinwhole,holy,and unmarkedas you weepnot for me,but for the emptinesswhere your illusion once livedMore from katherine kier. ↓@katherinekier on Instagram and SubstackYou can listen to her soundscapes at katherinekier.bandcamp.com Mentioned in this episode:Write After with One Poem OnlyWrite After is a way to encourage poets to listen and write, and use National Poetry Month to highlight how listening to poetry makes us better poets. I know I write the best when I’m surrounded by beautiful poetry–it’s part of the reason I created this podcast, and I want to encourage others to share this practice. If you want to join: Listen to a poem from the month of April on One Poem Only, then write your own in response. I will pick one for each day to read in June for a special series: One Poem After 🍎🍏 Submissions close May 15.Write After Submissions Form