A poem about love (or lust?) and revenge – Phan Quỳnh Trâm

The octopus is known to be the
smartest animal in the world.
(though Aristotle would
disagree)

The octopus seduced me with
its expressive eyes
its bulbous head
its three hearts
and its eight legs
O! Its venerable, playful legs
or are they its arms?
No matter
each arm has a mind of its own
One on my mouth
One on my neck
One on my arm
One on my leg
One on my sex
And I already stopped counting

It squeezed me so hard,
that I could barely breathe
The octopus and I,
in our shameless,
secret complicity
completely oblivious
to the ocean
and the passage of time

Then slowly
the octopus let go
arm by arm
leg by leg
leaving behind its squirted ink
and traces of its blue, cold blood
soon to be swept away on a tide

Isolated
confused
I would never be the same without
the octopus
those layers of pain of absence
that ephemeral vibration
appearing and disappearing

And now
in the height of my emotional indigence
with that hungry yearning still burning
like the most hated Asian
tourist on the Internet
I am going to eat you
alive
octopus.

Phan Quỳnh Trâm
November 2019
—
Artwork: Mid September by Eric Siebenthal