EPITHALAMIUM

by lauren hilger

I left every room for it

I’ll move the room to me

I’ll move the rose to face

you wait at the foot of that door

take off my hoops when it opens

why was I afraid of the words

why to read the message

I slammed my hand over your mouth

time refilling

occasion for no speech

but the illusion of forever

chills the base of my throat

like some lemon bite too sharp

unless you like big numbers

daytime shapes up cool white and blue not

regal enough for you

the idea of logging off is done

this quiet comes around

my fist closed in a silent film

I tried to tell you

but the story stays here

all in my mouth my hands

wind over the ocean

fire on the sand

I’m not going to hurt you

I stamp my signet ring into wax

Lauren Hilger is the author of Lady Be Good (CCM, 2016.) Named a Nadya Aisenberg Fellow in poetry from the MacDowell Colony, she has also received fellowships from the Hambidge Center and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in BOMB, Harvard Review online, Kenyon Review online, Pleiades, The Threepenny Review, West Branch, and elsewhere. She serves as a poetry editor for No Tokens.