{"id":4124,"date":"2022-12-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-01T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/palaver\/?p=4124"},"modified":"2023-06-28T18:49:02","modified_gmt":"2023-06-29T01:49:02","slug":"honey-and-wax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/palaver\/fall-2022\/honey-and-wax\/","title":{"rendered":"Honey and Wax"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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Honey and Wax<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n By<\/span>Christiann Montante<\/strong>\n \n December 1, 2022<\/span>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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Wasteful. I don\u2019t want to be wasteful. I\u2019ll swing a steel bottle just between my thighs and relent to its weight. And as it returns, my knee is struck. The bottle left trembling, a loud and empty shrill. A cry of thirst, I must refill.<\/p>\n

Inevitably a game of give and receive until he or I have taken too much.<\/p>\n

The room is showered by sterile fluorescent light that nearly illuminates. It flickers in and out like tired indecisive eyes, unsure if to keep open or remain shut. Blemishes of recognizable origin mark the grid of square tiles beneath me. In the room there is a single toilet, its seat positioned upward as if expectant. The floor darkens around its base, yellowed film spilling out from underneath. Grime and filth are caught between the tiles.<\/p>\n

The faucet is turned. The pipes moan. Reluctantly, it empties itself.<\/p>\n

The nozzle vomits, sputtering until the spray surrounds me. A violent mess and <\/em>a waste. It softens, though, the sharp white foam dulls into a pristine clarity, barely there. Eventually, a faint stream tumbles from the faucet and into his patient cavity\u2013a.<\/p>\n

The bottle hums but the song is drowned as emptiness pours out in place of another. I lift the bottle to my chin.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still hungry,\u201d he interrupts. \u201cI want more.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWould you like a sip?\u201d I ask, more from contempt than courtesy. And so he slides his uncut, unclean fingers around the rim of my bottle.<\/p>\n

InAndOutInAndOut<\/em>AgainAndAgainPleaseStop<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you like that, boy?\u201d he asks.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n

And so he went into the formless night to be shaped. And hopes to make love with whichever might make him finally pray because he saw God in a wrapped basket.<\/p>\n

From cover, to cover, uncovered.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The basket that lies somewhere there, stuck in its casket, a crater,<\/p>\n

A cof in<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Its throne, enough to make his insides whisper.<\/p>\n

And whimper\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

and wonder,\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

and then ask\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWill you take me?\u201d<\/p>\n

Suddenly he is a boy all over, \u201cTake me again?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI want you to take me. To lay waste to my body and claim all my endings and beginnings,\u201d He’s begging now.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cTo see only nothing in the shade of the walls your father built. And when you look for him, instead you\u2019ll find me just outside your screen door, beneath the pool and behind the stairs. Right where you left me. Always I will remain, wanting and waiting in that basket you tried to bury, filled with honey and wax.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo sculpt me, and I will fill your hand as you shape me. I will be supple in your heat, I will be yours. In your absence I will have nothing to do but harden within your cast. And finally, when you leave my lips, still I\u2019ll be left with the taste of honey. Again, will you take me?\u201d he finishes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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Christiann Joseph Montante<\/strong> is a runner, he’s a trackstar, but not actually because he has occasionally debilitating sports asthma. He is a freshman striving for a B.S. in Legal Studies and known to some as “one of the few men with two ns”; He is a first-generation Filipino-American not yet depraved and vying for attention. Christiann is a new kid on the block at USC, but is even newer to the writing scene and aspires to one day be a published author! He loves warm hugs, playing fetch, and long walks on the beach, Christiann also hopes that you enjoy his writing!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":288,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[52],"class_list":["post-4124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall-2022","tag-prose"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHoney and Wax<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/palaver\/fall-2022\/honey-and-wax\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Honey and Wax - Palaver Arts Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/palaver\/fall-2022\/honey-and-wax\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Palaver Arts Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/palaver.arts.magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-12-01T08:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-06-29T01:49:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/palaver\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/175\/2023\/06\/palaver-logo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"710\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"198\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"akcannon\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/palaver\\\/fall-2022\\\/honey-and-wax\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/palaver\\\/fall-2022\\\/honey-and-wax\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"akcannon\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\\\/palaver\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8ac801b3c8176b6860207b43ecbe9e78\"},\"headline\":\"Honey and Wax\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-12-01T08:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-29T01:49:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/palaver\\\/fall-2022\\\/honey-and-wax\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":3,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\\\/palaver\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Prose\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Issue 12: Fall 2022\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/palaver\\\/fall-2022\\\/honey-and-wax\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/palaver\\\/fall-2022\\\/honey-and-wax\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/palaver\\\/fall-2022\\\/honey-and-wax\\\/\",\"name\":\"Honey and Wax - 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