Predator territory

i have marked my own body as my own territory
with the steel frame of a lion on my shoulder
with “courage” across the string of muscles leading to my fist
with a gun on my forearm stretching out like my fingers
when I reach for the trigger

and still the predators come

they hide in plain clothes and dance in the sunlight
with two too many drinks in hand
they tell stories of their family holidays, the dogs, the kids
then pass around photos of their girlfriends
passed out
coked up
stripped down

they hunt from dawn until their urge bleeds into dusk
they are one with the night
their souls as black as pitch
their eyes like lasers
their hands like swords
their voices like poison
their grin like the pin of a grenade

my tattoos mean nothing, lay no boundary
for a predator’s unquenchable lust
i am already hollowed out
yet they come back for my bones
carnal creatures gnawing at ribs
raping the deepest parts of me

they will never stop