there is something
about the sound of skin being
slowly pulled away from flesh
that is vaguely reminiscent of
my mother paring cooked potatoes
for a holiday salad
it makes me hesitate in my work
and thoughtfully consider how I will decorate
this human skin Valentine
with its poem written in my
victim’s own blood
and I briefly wonder
what my deceased lover would think
of my careful
artwork
T. Santitoro is editor of the minimal genre poetry magazine, Scifaikuest, co-author of The Saint and the Demon, with Ron Sparks, and has a novelette, The Legend of Trey Valentine, by Alban Lake Publishing, coming out in February 2019.
Published 2/14/19