Orpheus

“Orpheus and Eurydice” (1826) by Carl Andreas August Goos

By Hannah Meyer

I want to live inside your ribcage 

carve out a shard of your cheek 

hide it underneath my fingernails 

Swallow your plum-wonder-heart 

each chamber

condensed & pulverised. 

A letter to me

written 

on the inside of your lip,

curled around a wine glass 

between coat & collarbone

the body’s own lunar eclipse.

I am your synonym 

Crash into me like a current 

recede into oblivion 

forever drawing back 

looking, back, back, back 

Hoops like tiny half-moons 

glint beneath a hair

spilling over his forearm

Legs crossed & hands clasped 

your laughter curdles the air 

my lungs tighten 

veins reroute atoms

I become & become & become & become

alone.

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Hannah Meyer is a writer, director, and dramaturg who recently graduated from Muhlenberg College. She is a fan of sudden lightning storms, chutzpah, and finding the perfect bagel.