anacreon (c. 6th century bc) writes, “once again love has struck me like a smith with a great hammer” (δηὖτέ μ᾽ ὁ χρυσοκόμης Ἔρως / μεγάλῃ δ᾽ ἐνέκοψεν ὥστε χαλκεὺς πελέκει), a line that imagines love not as tenderness, but as a violent force capable of remaking the self.
a thin comma moon rises orange, a skinny slice of melon, / so delicious i could drown in its sweetness. or eat the whole / thing, down to the rind. always, this hunger for more.