I’m dressed like a springtime peony
at the Supermasochist film screening
all pink as if it were my party
just me and my Juicy velour and the S&M enthusiasts
and I think they think they get it

Nodding yes, girly girl knows self-mutilation
expert in playing the cupcake
in being bitten
they know great taste

On the bike ride home I cry about him dying
even though I didn’t know he existed before today
the patron saint of making it hurt so that it won’t hurt
I replay all of the things I saw him do to his flesh
receive the blessing:

May his sick and broken body
be so much more important
than a perfect, beautiful one could ever be