my lover sends a breakup text while I’m in the bathtub,

by K. Iver

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my phone unreachable
               from the windowsill the parts
underwater are already grieving
               their consent the torso’s attempt
to turn while tied without a safe
               word so his lashes might land
somewhere else my lover’s unrehearsed
               no his head’s emphatic shake
from six feet & one inch underwater
               streaks on my left thigh are stretching
their unbearable knowledge
               their pores are softening
to unopened words I’m sorry if
               I hurt you his well wishes floating
in hand-held light everything above
               water is sweating with possibility
I am running my finger across
               my teeth like his finger can taste
the inked muscle I’ll never touch
               this is where desire begins

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K. Iver (they/them) is a nonbinary trans poet born in Mississippi. Their book Short Film Starring My Beloved’s Red Bronco won the 2022 Ballard Spahr Prize for Poetry from Milkweed Editions. Their poems have appeared in Boston Review, Keynon Review, The Adroit, TriQuarterly, and elsewhere. Iver is the 2021-2022 Ronald Wallace Fellow for Poetry at the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing. They have a Ph.D. in Poetry from Florida State University. For more, visit kleeiver.com.