“JUDITH WITH THE HEAD OF HOLOFERNES”, Ang Shuang
They say I did it for my city. He was coming
to smash our gates, to shuck us clean, & I was,
after all, already dirty, the pearl popped from
my oyster, lost. Outside his tent were flowers,
still unpicked, petals slick with fresh dew.
He was hungry & thought me free for the taking.
I parted the flaps & entered. After it was over,
I rubbed a blossom between my wine-stained
fingers until it caved, bleeding. They say I did it
for God, for all of Man. & yes, it was man
I was thinking of when I thrust my sword in him
& pulled it out slick with the juice of crushed cherries,
when I walked home with his head between my thighs.
I was hungry & he wasn’t a bedfellow fit for my liking.