Barrel Rings (poetry)

“Flow down and down in always widening rings of being.”
-Rumi

I imagine us bound together by barrel
Rings. Maybe we could go into the lovers’
Protection program under the name
Cooper and you could kiss my clever
Mouth with your clever mouth almost
Out in the open. Only the gods and the
Government would know we were never
Supposed to end up barrel bound to
Each other.

Your people think you married down.
Fuck your people. I married you and
You’re a criminal—with lots of money so…

Is that up or sideways? With you
It’s almost always sideways.

A barrel on its side rolls wobbly.

-M. Ashley

Loving Your Jealous God (poem)

If you make your god jealous, submit to him.
Love him. Ruffle his curly black hair. Offer him
your body and all your softest parts, the ones
you only offer some of the time.

Swear on the river, the unbreakable
swear, that you will give up
the offending one. Kiss him all over.

You didn’t mean to hurt his heart,
but you did.

-M. Ashley

Sulfur Kiss

We put up with a certain level of
Gross from our lovers and
Farting on each other in bed and
Giggling about it and
Don’t you dare Dutch oven me
Again… Chester!
Can be as intimate as
The world’s sweetest
Sulfur kiss.

-M. Ashley

Find me on TikTok at: MNAshleyPoetry

Find me on TikTok at: MNAshleyPoetry

East West Passage

We touched cheeks
East met west we sweat
Ans sweatily rolled
Against each other side
To side our shoulders
Arms dewy hands taut
Fingers turned our hips
Forward now belly to
Belly sex to sex our
Mouths open we found
Our peaceful
Passages in the dark

-M.