I feel them pulsing in the dark
when you are inside me—run my palms over jeweled eyes,
caress their god-like jaws.
You told me what each pharaoh represented:
The left one is wisdom, the middle is faith,
the last is strength.
I trace my thumb along your rib cage,
explore your chest—tenderly touch the top
of their crowns.
You said it was a twenty-seven-hour process,
but worth the hurt. I think about you
wanting me longer
than thirty minutes in this motel,
a ruined oasis—our sweat inked into the sheets.
I love to kiss each divine face
as we dress. You leave and never say where
or who you go back to.
Jessica Martinez is a Retention Specialist and writing tutor at San Jacinto College, and co-founder of the women’s online literary journal, CEO. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming with Digital Papercut, Sediments Literary-Arts Journal, Strata, Inquietudes Literary Journal, and Story|Houston. She will be attending Texas State University in August 2018 to pursue her MFA in Fiction.