LGBTQ+ Poem: An Ode to Sappho, by Mansi Bhagwate

I stand beside you on Lesbos,
drenched in stories of desire and death,
the ancient Aegean—woven in byssus, eternal and gleaming—
a thread that binds us across time.

I touch the inside of your marble wrist, still so smooth,
untainted by lecherous strokes,
and I feel your pulse quickening—
as if you see me, as if you know me,
as if the tips of my callused fingers
can still awaken something beneath the stone.

Poetry surges through the air,
marble lips exhale,
and your gaze, oh your gaze,
turns to me, only me.

The sky burns violet,
Weary winds untie my hair with porcelain fingers.
I wonder if this is how you saw her,
bathed in the last flush of daylight,
her mouth still wet from your kiss.

Is this how she sighed?
With your words coursing through her body,
with the weight of your hunger pressed into her breasts?
Did your voice curl at the base of her spine,
settling heavy between her thighs?

Gossamer moonbeams glide over my skin like vicuña,
and here I am, centuries away,
wanting you the way you wanted her.

I remember you
in the future.

Oh, Sappho! Goddess, infernal lover,

Ruin me.
Consume me.
Let me drink in
Your overwhelming heartbreak.