find even more of my published work at the links at the bottom of this page
fat woman utopia!
sweet strawberry-pickin’
hair-braidin’
freckles-on-the-tops-of-your-shoulders-kissin’
women
in fits of tinkling slap-your-thighs laughter
between dandelion afternoons
and citronella dusks
paradise is some sunshine and rainbows
some musical thunderstorms
with gorgeous displays of heat and sweet, yet
no scorching gaze to burn these garden bodies
into rigid rows of hedges, stunted
branches sharpened into defense mechanisms—
we are flesh and spirit
without spite
tracing each other’s silvered stretch marks, inquiring
the names of such sparkling rivers, admiring
delicate purple veins and dark spots
even the sun can’t help but shine on
this vast wildness flourishing
flourishing! everyone is just
as woman or fat as suits them
and here we are as a daisy chain—
behind me her tender fingers working through my thick hair,
my cool hands squeezing another’s untangling shoulders
as their sweet lap holds the shaved head
of still another woman whispering
you are loved
you are loved, you are
loved.
​​
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Published in Space538 2021 Poetry Hotline
to tell you how much i love you
​inspired by matthew and Cat Power
sea of love
matthew
come with me
i wanna tell you
about that
Craigslist ukulele
do you remember
(you couldn’t possibly)
the gold-leafed little white bible?
i wanna tell you
how it became a
replaced window pane
come with me
look, i used to sit on
the roof
thinking about how i want to tell you
i love you
​
Published in Sad Girl Review Spring 2021
The Fortune
Your mother was a garden fairy
and your father was a talking manatee.
You will have twenty children
and live in a Jimmy Choo.
Your first born will be a champion pumpkin eater,
Your last born will upset the balance of the universe.
I see you're overwhelmed by your destiny,
One day, when you're queen of the ancient Scots, you will be more confident.
You will develop a knack for feng shui.
Your partner will leave you
And come back with flowers.
The rivers will course with the voice of your best friend from 4th grade,
and the mountains will stand silent like your grandfather.
You will caution the winds to aspire to little to no funny business.
You are a witch, a heathen.
Your afterlife will be one of unfinished business.
God will smile down on you and turn away.
You will ascend to the universe and become a black hole.
Your children will see the twinkle of the north star and forget about you.
​
Published in ECU Expressions Spring 2016
​
Saudade
​scattered across continents
distance highlighted by numbers
years, eyes, words
people i haven't spoken to since there was hard, dry dirt under my feet
and arroz e feijão ready for lunch
blood is thicker than water
harder to scrub from your hands
from your memories
nine years forgotten
entrusted to a man nobody knew,
a man named violence.
i grew in that time.
my body grew, with constant reminders of the distance
echoing in my changing curves
but the world stayed still
days bled into years
and the first thing released from the slow muck
of a repressed childhood were my elbows
i crawled out to the other side
still alone
still slow
but breaking the frame
and now continents are closer than ever
tides pulling us together
love is slowly filling the void that fear cratered
​
​
Published in ECU Expressions Spring 2016
​