I Swallow Creatures Whole – BT Hayes ’22

And they thank Me as they go down,

Singing watercolor soliloquies into my Stomach.

I’m Going Home, I hear them say,

We’re Going Home.

And when your Belly is the Home of the Beast

What can you do but watch the hours pass?

Take a nap in the aftershocks of lovesickness.

Soak your skin in milk lined with leftover tea bags.

 

And when you see my swollen Belly

You’ll know the eyes and teeth and tongues that

Dwell below are lullabying in harmony.

Babies bundled up in the matrimony

Of my flesh. Sweet little monsters, sleep tight.

 

 

-BT Hayes