The Red Insistance

Originally published in Anti-Heroin Chic (forthcoming, February 2026)

I’ve seen what hunger does—
how it sharpens the face
into a weapon,
how it hollows the eyes.

I know the cult of less.
I know the altar.

No.

I want appetite
without shame.

Let the world keep
its pale saints.

I will not worship disappearance.
I will not make a home
in starvation.

I choose the living thing—
the animal truth,
the stubborn pulse,
the red insistence.

I go on.