Corpses Unlike Bodies

By Tara Claesgens

If we died like that

My cheekbone resting against her hairline 

My jaw against her brow

If we died like this

If we decomposed like this

If they found our skeletons like this

Our bones

It would look like I was trying to eat her

Like she was being cannibalised by some monster.

When really, there was nothing more safe

More comforting for her and me

Than to lay in each other’s arms, legs twined

Head to chest

Belly to belly

Cheek to brow

The warmth from the blankets heavy 

Dampening our skin together

We would have to peel ourselves away from one another

But in the moment, I couldn’t tell

Where one of us ended and the other began.

Our breathing kept us seperate 

Lungs never lulling to the same breath

Staccato hearts keeping bodies apart

From melting souls together.