there are bugs under

my skin and maybe

they’ve found my eye-

lids too, it’s too much

to ask and even

more to wonder. when

you’re near I feel them

crawling, legs scuttling

along my arm’s insides

and out. soon they’ll

pool in my stomach,

pupate ‘til butterflies

beat wings against

my throat. tiny twitches

make me wonder if

you might love me,

y’know? make me wonder

about yesterday and

tomorrow and

why now, little beetle

baby, feelers long and

wispy? what made

you walk across

my window now?

FOX AUSLANDER (they/them) is a non-binary poet based in Southwest Philadelphia. They are a reader for Alien Magazine and The Chestnut Review, a temporary shut-in, and probably happy. You can find their recent writing in Mineral Literary Magazine, Q/A Poetry, and Daily Drunk Mag, and on Twitter @circumgender.