From our Spring 2015 issue comes JJ Womack‘s ravenous and fiery poem, “I Will Ruin You Because I Love You.”

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AT MIDNIGHT I WILL OPEN ONLY ONE EYE and
Stretch my arms and legs out on the bed
I will search for you in the darkness where you will not be
Half-blind now, but not for long

At 12:34 I will arise to hunt you and
Spread your carcass around silk white sheets
I will pretend you are there
Devouring your senses, what remains of your DNA

I will burn your house down with everyone in it
Gladly, leaping and skipping amidst all the cries and screams
The firemen will not come, I have
Punctured their tires and locked them inside

Between coughs and gasps for fresh air,
My skinny brown arm extends
I am your savior, you need not worry
I drag you down flights of stairs to exit

Through the back door
Away from all those rotten faces
Away from all those unremarkable bodies
Away from all those feeble minds

We run away from the smoke and flames
I am smiling and you cannot see
Out into the woods, you ask where we are going
Your confusion excites me

I whisper something you cannot hear
This plan is much better, to think
Of the many ways to take you away
This plan is much better

You grab hold of my shoulder
I need to rest, I need to rest, you say
Do you love me, I ask
You almost laugh, your face flushed pink

You are unconscious now and in my bed
I will wait for 12:34 to feel you
To feel your insides, in the dark where
I discern sloppy puddles of crimson red

I take your head and place it upon my bosom
Deep whiffs of twenty-seven years
Of vigorous shampooing
Yes, this plan was much better

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JJ WOMACK is a writer and researcher living in Maryland. You can find her on twitter @CiaoJazzy but it’s mostly retweets of everything interesting to her.