If love were a predator,

I’d let it hunt me down.

While it prowled,

I’d shuffle the leaves

just enough to be heard.

I’d welcome the weight

of its body against mine.

And when it struck,

I’d go down smiling—

Let it take me.

Let it tear me open.

Let me blissfully bleed my life away

as its mouth claimed the tender flesh

of my thigh

a mark not of death,

but devotion.

Because life without love

is just survival

anyway.

-M.L.

More from McKenzie Hager ↓

• @lavendermorbs on Instagram
• Her book, Ink, Grace, and F-Bombs, is out now.

Listen to me read another poem by McKenzie on Instagram @rembrandts.cure