Published in "Syntax 2000" anthology, 2000.

Tattoo

by Barbara Welton

If only I could lick

your flesh clear off your bones.

If only my tongue

could gouge troughs of heat

and utter sensation into your skin.

If only that, I would burn

my name into your body with my tongue,

let it scab over

and then you would wear me

for the rest of your life.