Self-made Man // March 2023

Obligatory tool joke

sometimes i wanna delete all my social media and throw my phone into a river

yes yes yes yes yes

“Buck” // On being a trans man in the deep south

“whispered ‘mississippi’s’”

learned to count thunder on my grandparents’ porch

the whispered “mississippi’s” separating the miles

in between lightning storms to home front

tongue to sky to taste raindrops

before sprinkled upon the cement

(like the first blood i spilled)

and coating grass blades with dew

as well as the buzz cut i carried through elementary

when puddles meant being splashed by rubber boots

and not onto me by careless traffic

passing through cityscapes

wet socks are different when being asked for

rather than being forced to have under an umbrella

yearning to run through that yard yet again

may 9, 2024

cowboy posters

tip me i’ll give you a kiss

prints in pink/blue & orange/pink

“for the world beyond death is surely august”

E.M. Forster “The Point of It

i love you weight gain i love you acne i love you tdick i love you voice cracks i love you bad hairline i love you horniness i love you aggression i love you stopped periods i love you shitty facial hair

The Art of Disassociation by Eli Clare

drift

lose time gain time ride the time machine

            twirl

tear up the diagnoses let them rain down like pride parade confetti

             fly

use them for all they’re worth in meds or therapy or sheer survival

            evaporate

claim ourselves escape artists

efficient and beautiful

Listen to Eli Clare read this poem