The bitten

I can't help but wonder if I am the biter or the bitten
The supple flesh taunting me to taste -
Or perhaps it is my own skin being penetrated by razor teeth
Tasted and savored,
Feverishly pulled free from tendon and bone.

The scars I see when I blink flash like beacons
Pull me out of my reverie, hard crack like a whip on my flanks
Instant snap of fire and my nerves jump to action,
Chomping at the bit, bright out of the starting gate
Waking me up from my thunderstorm sleep.

The intensity of the bite sends me helpless
With the sweet pain of it
And I know in an instant that I am not the one inflicting it,
I've been shut off until now, my lights dimmed
And it is the sharpness,
This frantic ecstasy
Which causes my insides to flutter open,
Hard-wired like a race car to go fast, so fast
Pistons and oil
Sweat and shine
Fast like a waving checkered flag on a tarmac track
Faster, like turbine engines during lift-off
Fastest bite of all, the dull sap of it
Vaguely honey-thick
The ebb and flow of it, amber and dark of it
Like a beating heart that I must - oh, must!-
Ingest, inhale, expel

I can't help it now, all teeth and tongue
Who does this thing that tears me open
Am I the biter or the bitten?
Our flesh blends together and we are seamless
I do not know my body from yours
Together this glue solidifies us
Your compulsions are mine
Your taste is my taste
Oh the nasty temptation of it, to become you,
Crawl out and leave myself behind.

-gss 2006