The Bat’s Reply

I am the loneliest bat,
Silvery blue-black
As a strewnfield tektite.

I ruin everything I kiss.
I kiss everything I ruin.

I can forget everything I said.
I can remove the gown of a saint
Without waking her,
But I detest the tart blood
Of the incorruptible.

I fear she would adore me,
Then I would have to chew out her eyes
And she would leave me
Broom-beaten and starved.

But at least she would be blind
To what I have always been.

I held her hand in a dream.
I almost was a man.