Flowers are aromatic reproductive organs, beloved by humans for their smell, insects for their nectar. They are so often presented in such a way that provokes themes of intimacy, and youth, and yet in flowers there is also age, wilting. They are the shortest lived part of a plant. These are Poems focusing on interacting themes of dysphoria, abuse, transphobia and fetishization. This may depress some people.

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1
I’ve always aspired to be a flower 
to sit below the gaze of the sun
for the westerlies to peel the petals from my body

I want to color a stranger’s backyard 
and to die in the same year that I bloom 

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Clothes
I looked better in a mask 
looked better with a hat
looked better with sunglasses 
in button up jackets hugging the sun 
long boots pulled over my ankles 
and hair 
long enough to tear that house from my sight. 

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Hospital Poem
I’ll catalog pictures of his tumors 
and uproot roses to dump in large chunks of dirt 
over his chest 
that spasms and wretches as his shriveled voice
claws the air 

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Bicycle Poem
My mother spent 199.98 on a bike
for my birthday
she tore holes in the tires with needles
and I pumped them every night from school 
for an hour
to a locked door

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My Voice
If I could take a scalpel to my voice
cut out tones, and separate notes, 
I don’t care if my skin is buzzing 
or I can’t hold my throat steady
or if my stress spasming fingers 
miss 
and the blade dives into my trachea 

I’d rather taste blood in my throat 
and hear wet chokes 
lunging from my lips
than 
to hear another rancid note
of my voice.