I mustn't say to him I love you, though I want to; I've been warned.
And what do they matter, three syllables out of all possible words?

"Desire" by Heather N. Robinson

Still,

they rebel in me, those seven letters: 7, like a flag raised,
or a scythe; slicing through the center of me, blood and sex.

And I need to say the words, to open my mouth
the way a flower releases the voice of a bee.

Instead,

I set them loose, that star-crossed threesome,
in the low-light corners of my brain, where they fuck

and spawn little baby iloveyous, squealing and squirming and sucking

their thumbs beneath the soft, square blanket of my longing.

Bio: Maryanne Stahl, an associate editor at Literary Potpourri, teaches writing at Kennesaw State University, near Atlanta.

Her short fiction and poetry has appeared in Aileron, Bovine Free Wyoming, Carve, Critique, Exquisite Corpse, In Posse Review, Literary Potpourri, Literary Salt, Mindkites, New Works Review, Ophelia's Muse, Outsider Ink, Painted Moon Review, Paumanok Review, Pig Iron Malt, Poetry Magazine, Snow Monkey, Sunscripts, storySouth, and 3 AM.

Her short story, An Expense of Spirit, was selected for the e2ink anthology of the best short stories published on the web for the year 2002. The anthology is scheduled for publication in June 2003.

Her first novel, Forgive the Moon (New American Library/Penguin Putnam), was published in June, 2002. Her second novel, The Opposite Shore, set on Shelter Island, NY, is due out in the summer of 2003.

Visit her website at: http://www.maryannestahl.com

Contact Maryanne at mcstahl@mindspring.com