AE Hines
Almost Like Being Choked by a Lover
That summer I follow him down to the shore
amid the salt grasses, beneath languid gulls,
follow their calls of longing while the sun
chases our shadows east into the surf
like departing souls. We bed down in the dunes.
I let him touch me however he likes
for as long as he dares. First day senior year,
his posse now in tow, from behind he wraps
his arm around my neck, then slams
my thin body into the dirty bathroom wall.
Not the first time. A whispered hiss. Faggot
poured over the red coal of my ear. Not the last time
my trembling hands reach back to touch the face
of a man who hurts me.
amid the salt grasses, beneath languid gulls,
follow their calls of longing while the sun
chases our shadows east into the surf
like departing souls. We bed down in the dunes.
I let him touch me however he likes
for as long as he dares. First day senior year,
his posse now in tow, from behind he wraps
his arm around my neck, then slams
my thin body into the dirty bathroom wall.
Not the first time. A whispered hiss. Faggot
poured over the red coal of my ear. Not the last time
my trembling hands reach back to touch the face
of a man who hurts me.
Biography
AE Hines is a poet who grew up in North Carolina and currently resides in Portland, Oregon. A recent Pushcart nominee, his work is widely published in anthologies and literary journals such as Potomac Review, Atlanta Review, California Quarterly, I-70 Review, and Hawaii Pacific Review. He is currently at work on his first full length manuscript. Find him on the web www.aehines.net, on Twitter: @PoetAEHines, and on Instagram @poet_aehines
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