Eilis

b*****d and bite (Roscoe Burnems)

he brushes his gums bloody
trying to cleanse himself of his father's smile.
he's never seen it
but has heard it was there.

he stares,
trying to find reflection
in the bathroom mirror,
in windows,
puddles,
in anyone staring back.

and finds nothing.

angrily licking the aftermath off fangs.

fatherless boys are vampires
feasting on lover’s flesh,
reminding ourselves we’re alive.
punishing them for being so human.

my mother's first son
would sleep his daylight away
and journey only at night.

like his father.
like mine.
and their fathers before them,

trying to find a
bloodline.