I started 

and stopped 

wearing makeup

the same day,

 

red lips 

                            (drip)

& purpled eyes 

                           (drip) 

 

a killer combination 

 

                           drip

                                          drip

                             drip

 

/

 

I said: 

my body is a temple  

 

enough times 

in the mirror 

to believe it 

myself 

 

/ 

 

I have this tendency

to bite down 

through tongues  

so hard 

I forget my own

name,

 

those moments 

that taste like rust,

 

feel like hitting

asphalt 

from eighty feet 

up 

 

/

 

I hope these words

leave burn marks

 

/

 

I hope 

to understand this town 

as deer carcasses spread 

on roadsides, blackberry 

eyes 

 

unblinking,

 

made larger 

in death

 

and struggling 

to see something

more than 

darkness 

 

/

 

I said: 

my body is a temple

 

so many times

that the mirror weeps

for dead deer

 

and calls it

a prayer