The Love Electric

The Love Electric

Written by Kriti Raju

I run the barbell of my tongue ring against my teeth

as a jailer would his baton on prison bars

and intimidate my voice into

giving up your name.

I demand the right to call my attorney!

You cannot make me

spill

I am going to hold on

to your name as though

it is prayer

to speak your name is to take it in vain

to write it down is to document it

there is a structural deficit in my medium of love.

I cannot speak of it nor write of it

there is an electrical transmission

perhaps I can email you my love with no attachments

Are you sure you want to send? There is no attachment included in this email.

Can you read between the lines? There are no lines to speak of

I fell asleep with shreds of paper in my teeth

fortune cookie futures 

all with your name on it.

I chew on remnants of hearts and souls and soul mates

and all the achy-tooth promises that you made 

when you were seventeen.

there's a space between 

what i say and what i mean to say

and no words to fill it. 

Maybe it's an electrical transmission

I'll leave it blank.

You can read between the lines. 

Maybe.