Mummy

midnight opens 

with your eyes I travel 

my Nile to rub your teeth

shamble with my arms 

in front of me sometimes 

I want to leave you 

without these bandages 

this wrap of weight my own 

will bottled in a spiked interior 

they say the iron maiden was 

the shape of a sarcophagus

I cannot lean on any side

until you sleep

Chris Stewart

Chris Stewart lives in Christchurch. A graduate of The Hagley Writers' Institute, his poems have been published in Catalyst, Aotearotica, Brief, Mimicry, Takahē, Snorkel, Blackmail Press, and in issue four of Sweet Mammalian.