food chain

nobility    they say
not ego
               am I not
then     not to
close in    dancing
on your skin
to linger on your
drenching taste
to swallow    probe

or shiver    suck
ah hunger    leaps
at neck    at thigh
could leap
beyond principle

am I not to    sway

toward that space
animal    skinned
lunge across
muscles flying
am I not
to hunt    tease
or nuzzle    smell
my prey
                 to turn you
with my nose
our eyes    bridged
to watch you
die for me


Published in The Grailville Poets, 1994