Vaginismus
Sugar on the tongue,
we have many hours to waste
without complete touch.
Nothing can touch the way
you could if I could
take you without pain.
What is this body if I cannot—
when full of desire—join with a man.
I have waited so long to find you.
I told the sky prayers. And the sky
listened. When I fell out of the trees
strangers showed me
where you dwelled. Now that I
have brought myself to you
I cannot bring myself to you, fully.
Sugar on our lips. No nourishment
in my teaspoon. It does not matter.
Beloved, one day I will open
and I will be so open. You will hear
the rush of my footsteps approaching,
though you lie beside me.
(previously published in Each Wild Thing’s Consent, Poetry Wolf Press)
Lauren Davis is the author of the chapbook “Each Wild Thing’s Consent” (Poetry Wolf Press). She holds an MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars, and her work can be found in publications such as Prairie Schooner, Spillway, and Lunch Ticket. She is an alumni of Hypatia-in-the-Woods. She is also an editor at The Tishman Review, and teaches at The Writers’ Workshoppe in Port Townsend, WA.
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