LOVE SPELL

I stir coriander for desire, sugar 

             for sweetness, cornmeal 

 

to bind you to me. I scrawl your name 

            in the grit, spear fork tines 

 

through your heart. Imagine my hands 

           around your throat, my hair 

 

sucked into your mouth. I am soured, 

            here, a dreadful thing 

 

in the windowlight. I make you again 

           from this this bowl of crumbs 

            

I’ll scatter along the sidewalk, under 

           the side of the bed where       

 

I’ll whisper stay into your thighs, trace 

          my name along your chest. I have 

            

to believe that this is the way back 

           to love: my clockwise stirring, 

 

my herbed fingers, and you searching 

          my skin for signs of a devil’s wish.