francis bacon to peter lacy
oh I love
how a tree bisects our garden
so we can reunite every time
we stumble on the other side
of our legs
your legs
a hairy memento mori
a blessing that foreshortens me
a sideshow that delays the sight
of god
the socket of my hips
meets the hollow of your thighs
as we watch the moon
fondle the shut daisies
your face
on the mantelpiece reminds me
to leave breadcrumbs
in the basement
how I want
to bind your chin with a firm line
ITALO FERRANTE (he/him) is a queer poet who earned a BA in English Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Warwick. To date, his work has been selected for publication by Poetry Salzburg, Impossible Archetype, Cardiff Review, Sage Cigarettes, Inflections Magazine, Lighthouse, and Orchard Lea Press. Recently, his poem “Ode to Abruzzo” has been shortlisted for the Oxford Brookes’ International Poetry Competition (2022).