Sharp canines rip open thin layers
of defense mechanisms and poorly healed hurts.
A warm tongue licks life experiences until teeth stains red,
and the stench fills the air.
Black-tipped paws press on my chest.
Fox's eyes close; hunger pacifies a trickster.
He eats his fill of me and my wounds,
rips old scars to clean each pocket
of the poison stewing inside for years.
I lean toward his cleansing and the grounding pain.
The dinner guest swallows more of hidden spoils.
Names I drowned in a dark pit
where my memory will not loiter for long.
The fox digests hardened old dates,
slights beginning to soften.
He samples sticks and stones forgotten underneath
the gorge my subconscious built.
He eats,
and I let him; he yips and I sigh.
I pretend I am pampered, get comfortable,
while he devours
a crater out of me.