The Courtship of the Lizard Lover

He crawls through the cracks
of my stone foundation,
 
sly and sleek as
I tempt him with food.
 
He stays out of habit; I cook
out of love for things that move.
 
We grow accustomed to each other’s
trails and smells, the skins we’ve shed
 
along the long, long road
of rubbing each other smooth.
 
Till all the skins we’ve shed lie sparkling
like so many stones in this desert land.
 
I scoop him up in my hand
and eat him.

Copyright Credit: Kate Buckley, "The Courtship of the Lizard Lover" from Follow Me Down. Copyright © 2009 by Kate Buckley.  Reprinted by permission of Tebot Bach.
Source: Follow Me Down (Tebot Bach, 2009)