Kebab Shop Confessional

in the kebab shop confessional
he told you about the time
he touched a roadside corpse
just because it was dangerous
and how

when his mother died, he licked
the ink from the will
and swallowed the pennies
from her purse
and why

he can’t look at wallets.
You said you know
I don’t actually want children
and he told you that
he doesn’t

like your mother. So,
both your clothes fell off
in the kebab shop, your
bodies melted into
your meals.

Your lips on the floor said
that it wasn’t good enough
and that sometimes you imagine
being with someone else.
Your lips disappeared

and he said they were your
worst feature, before his
disappeared too. Then,
you held hands tightly,
said you were scared,

spilled out onto the street
and evaporated into the sun.

Daniel Payne

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