Too Little, Too Much

I have a love that is kind
so sweetly-scented and undefined,

dressed in lace,
sewn with silk,

I have to put it to rest,
with a warm glass of milk,

It nuzzles near my throat,
listens to my breath,
scratches when angry,
at the freckle beneath my breast.

If I call it a love,
it wanders
& wobbles,
into paths untouched,
I leave it alone, it comes back home,
saying,

I’d rather have you, but not that much.

So, I have a—
it is so kind, sweetly scented,
undefined.

It does not love me
too little
or too much…

it sleeps in my bed
wonders if I’m dead
and says,
my God,
she is enough.

Julia Gerhardt is a writer from Los Angeles, now living in Baltimore. She is a nominee for the Best Microfiction Anthology 2020 and Best Small Fictions Anthology 2020. She has previously been published in Queen Mob’s Teahouse, The Umbrella Factory, The Airgonaut, Brilliant Flash Fiction, Cease, Cows, Literary Orphans, Rogue Agent, Flash Fiction Magazine, Monkeybicycle, and others. Her work is forthcoming in Eastern Iowa Review, and fresh.ink. She is currently working on her first novel. You can find her at https://juliagerhardtwriter.wordpress.com/.