Poetry
Penknife

Penknife

I don’t remember much of the train, but I remember William who gave me his engraved penknife at the station I don’t remember much of the train, but I remember William who gave me his engraved penknife at the station that spring in Pisa. Jordan at the other end in...

Back, Cover

Back, Cover

When I finish my first book, I wonder who'll blurb the unsubstantiated blows my father landed upside my head. “An unforgettable voice in fiction.” When I finish my first book, I wonder who'll blurb the unsubstantiated blows my father landed upside my head. “An...

Loyalty and Violence

Loyalty and Violence

When I finally told you that my first boyfriend raped me, I was worried you would be mad When I finally told you that my first boyfriend raped me, I was worried you would be mad I hadn’t told you sooner. You and Dad believed so innocently that you could keep me safe...

No Comment

No Comment

I’ve heard there is a room where hooded women enter, writing dates on the wall with the torn edge of their finger. I’ve heard you can cipher the numbers to bodies, to the graceless edge of some men’s beds. Is I’ve heard there is a room where hooded women enter,...

White house, where some family lived upstairs

White house, where some family lived upstairs

Fear the caging of birds. Strangled and brown. Moving here was like crossing a river, debriefings, scaling back. Clay pots clogged, awkward like an ingrown hair, browning down in the sun. Staring at walls draws a crowd, like a hardened nipple, a tear-streaked thigh....

Boreal Selkie

Boreal Selkie

I shed my pelt on the shoreline, leaving the warmth of the glossy grey coat to shiver and head for land. I shed my pelt on the shoreline, leaving the warmth of the glossy grey coat to shiver and head for land. I am careful to walk where the water will erase my steps,...

This Will Be Good

This Will Be Good

My mother in a rental van idling in the Phoenix Airport parkade. She does a word search, finds “tongue” “bitter” “cochlea” lets a ballpoint pen tell her of her own body. I tap the van window, see her face for the first time in months. It’s been too hot, My mother in a...

And now you have what you were waiting for

And now you have what you were waiting for

The first time, you walk into the night and think, This January wind is like death. Then you laugh at the idea that wind can kill in a city where asphalt is streaked with long stripes of blood or shit or mud. The first time, you walk into the night and think, This...

trans womanhood, in colour

trans womanhood, in colour

i am the flower that grows out of the cliffside overhanging the lake on thin soil birthed by lichen that digested rocks that i might bloom in her body with love to all of us in life, spirit, remembrance, and struggle i. for St. Marsha P and every Miss that took hits i...

Notre Freres

Notre Freres

We were born beneath the water in the darkest depths of the lake We rise, our hooves rumbling spewing lake water, muzzles dripping We were born beneath the water in the darkest depths of the lake We rise, our hooves rumbling spewing lake water, muzzles dripping in the...