we are going on the road
in search of a warm spring
butterflies will show us the way

every second i look in the mirror and see god
every second in the sky I see god

snowflakes flying in the air
my freckles have disappeared in the mirror image

the boy turns me into a doll with his love

tomorrow morning the boy will go to war and his
doll will be thrown into the dustbin of history and
filled with sadness in his heart along with despair

why is my skin not rubbery and can’t be blown off after sexual use
it would be easier for everyone

red lipstick on wet cheeks
lashes on the beloved body
thorns instead of rose petals

my body does not belong to me

simulation of orgasm or simulation of love –
wounds on the body after the whip

***

Mykyta Ryzhykh from Ukraine (Nova Kakhovka City) is the winner of the international competition “Art Against Drugs”, bronze medalist of the festival Chestnut House, and laureate of the literary competition named after Tyutyunnik, with work appearing in Dzvin, Tipton Poetry Journal, Stone Poetry Journal, Divot, dyst, Superpresent Magazine, Allegro Poetry Magazine, Alternate Route, Better Than Starbucks Poetry & Fiction Journal, Littoral Press.