Overdose by Jo Sarzotti


You came & went, veins full
Of dark honey. You wanted

A road you could sink knee deep
In. You took your own sweet time,

Trailing blue swoon & rush,
Mouth stopped.

I’ve not forgotten. Now
You can take your own sweet time,

Veins full of dark honey,
Come and go when you want

Trailing swoon & sweet rush,
Mouth stopped,

Your body cold on the bathroom tile.
You could’ve told me. You wanted

A road you could sink knee deep
In. I’m not going to forgive you.

 

Jo Sarzotti’s book MOTHER DESERT (Graywolf June 2012) was the 2011 Bakeless Prize winner, selected by Carl Phillips. Her poems have appeared in various journals, including Denver Quarterly, Alaska Review, and North American Review. She lives in New York and teaches literature at Juilliard, where she is the director of the Liberal Arts Department and hosts the Three Muses Poetry Reading series.