“In a moment of weakness, I’ll ask the heart how many beats /before it releases the twenty-one grams of my soul… /It has already /chosen the outfit I’ll wear in my coffin.”
Poetry
I Won’t Take that First Drink Today
"If I organize the photos in my phone /from Least to Most Remembered. /If I nap till after midnight. /If I recite the names of all the /bugs I’ve ever crushed underfoot."
“If I organize the photos in my phone /from Least to Most Remembered. /If I nap till after midnight. /If I recite the names of all the /bugs I’ve ever crushed underfoot.”
Planet Girl
"What are you doing? /Nothing. Nothing not boy /enough, Mr. Solo. (You knew it /before you knew it, /Jimmy Jenny.)"
“What are you doing? /Nothing. Nothing not boy /enough, Mr. Solo. (You knew it /before you knew it, /Jimmy Jenny.)”
‘All of the women on The Apprentice flirted with me—consciously or unconsciously. That’s to be expected.’
T.J. Sandella's poem exemplifies toxic masculinity.
T.J. Sandella’s poem exemplifies toxic masculinity.
Is There a Balm in Gilead?
For queer civil rights pioneer Bayard Rustin: "Even /as you organized civil /rights marches (changing /the DNA of our soil), /you were erased."
Is There a Balm in Gilead? For Bayard Rustin On a street where it’s always summer, on a day when it’s always 1948, your song rises into ether: “There Is a Balm in Gilead.” Even though I never knew you, your singing calls me. My ears consume the timbre of your spirituals. When…
Blister
"Through the holes in my hands, I see /my son with all the blood that used to be mine."
“Through the holes in my hands, I see /my son with all the blood that used to be mine.”
The quality of a color’s purity
"My blood leaks a white spill, /mingles with my toothpaste bordering at the drain. /I’ll lose a white tooth in there /one day: too many brown beverages: coffee, /tea, acids and bases that claw without /racial preference at my pink gums."
“My blood leaks a white spill, /mingles with my toothpaste bordering at the drain. /I’ll lose a white tooth in there /one day: too many brown beverages: coffee, /tea, acids and bases that claw without /racial preference at my pink gums.”
A Minor History of Moonlight
"Just as the moon cannot be cleaved from its light Jerome and Tyrone Price were paired /by nature identical but distinct"
“Just as the moon cannot be cleaved from its light Jerome and Tyrone Price were paired /by nature identical but distinct”
Spring Prayer
"We will never be lovers /now, this /day confirms it."
“We will never be lovers /now, this /day confirms it.”
Some things happened so long ago, it’s hard to tell
"I spy dad’s Playboy calendar, tan Miss July /hangs by a nail, splayed on a bed, white garters and knee socks and nothing else /making a face that says, you’re a funny sort of man."
“I spy dad’s Playboy calendar, tan Miss July /hangs by a nail, splayed on a bed, white garters and knee socks and nothing else /making a face that says, you’re a funny sort of man.”
A Culture of Fear
"Now we have only the dirge of distant tires, the percussion of closing doors, /this horror movie at the point all goes black /and we know the next sound will make us jump."
“Now we have only the dirge of distant tires, the percussion of closing doors, /this horror movie at the point all goes black /and we know the next sound will make us jump.”
When It’s Too Late
"– ¡¿Siempre vas a dormir?! What are you doing with your life!?"
“– ¡¿Siempre vas a dormir?! What are you doing with your life!?”
Quiet Room
"I sat outside of a room /with padded walls /& listened to someone /who almost bit my arm /hex me through the door."
“I sat outside of a room /with padded walls /& listened to someone /who almost bit my arm /hex me through the door.”
Apocalypse Greens
"Somebody said I love you /which was strange /because I was sitting alone /at my kitchen table with a bottle /of hot sauce in front of me /boasting its freedom from gluten"
“Somebody said I love you /which was strange /because I was sitting alone /at my kitchen table with a bottle /of hot sauce in front of me /boasting its freedom from gluten”
Not Our Cat, Not Our Zucchini
"Secret language /of the blood - bound, /untranslatable. /To end a fight, /to pick a fight, /to raise a storm of laughter."
“Secret language /of the blood – bound, /untranslatable. /To end a fight, /to pick a fight, /to raise a storm of laughter.”
Metamorphosis
"I am mute. The doctor says ARE YOU JUST STUPID OR"
“I am mute. The doctor says ARE YOU JUST STUPID OR”