ATTACHMENT THEORY

Lover, take your fingers
from my mouth

and untie me
from my shadow. Let me leap

from the suspension bridge
I have built

between my childhood
home and your hand

wrapped tenderly around my
throat as I ride you

on the porch bench, drunk
with worry over you

someday getting up to leave
me locked outside—

knowing if you do my wound would follow
you to the door, try to kiss the desolate

map of your boyhood
tattooed across your back.

Whitney Egstad is a poet, essayist, and educator in the Denver area. Her work has appeared in various publications including The Best of the Net Anthology, The Rumpus, and Bellingham Review. In 2014, she received her MFA from the University of South Florida, where she taught creative writing and composition courses. As a volunteer, she has served as a trauma-informed writing mentor in a treatment center. She is currently a PhD student at University of Denver, where she is researching healing centered education.