Boxer

I could grab your wrists
If I wanted to

Pin you down
I've done it before

Because you're bigger than me
But I'm stronger than you

I ask you to punch me
In the stomach 

Like my father used to
To show he could take it

You refuse me
What I want

Because when you get the things you want
You break them like glass 

Against the delicate 
Orifice 

Of your mouth
Which is open 

Always
And hungry

Sometimes bloody
You tell me I don’t need to clean the blood

But I clean it
Of course I do

I feed you
Because I need to feed you

I make you want me
Because I want to break me

It's not a trick
If you don't catch it

I'm not your girl
If you can't trap me

In our land
Of golden cages

When I bend over
For you

My secrets
Come with me

I keep them
In my belly

Something 
To be on my side

Where it's lonely
And dark

An ocean
Of steel chains

It's called love
It's called you win

Because I let you

Francesca Kritikos is the editor in chief of SARKA, a journal and publisher focused on works of the flesh. She is the author of The season of lilacs is monstrous (Blush, October 2025), SWEET BLOODY SALTY CLEAN (Feral Dove, August 2023) and Exercise in Desire (Vegetarian Alcoholic Press, January 2022). Her poetry has been published in English, Greek and French in numerous online and print publications.