Made in Our Image
#commencement #white #daddysgirl
Family Portrait. My father stands still
in his graduation robe while I tug his sleeves
into perfect place. We know the drill -
If Commencement begins your life
my father should be nearing Nirvana.
He kisses me on the head and
gazes at me the way he did when I announced
I would be a lawyer. I was nine.
Not used to seeing you like this, he says,
I really like you in a dress.
I am not used to seeing him like this, either,
mostly I have known the worry between his eyes.
He squeezes my shoulder where
my tattoo peeks out.
I take his hand, afraid the words
might rise from my shoulder blade
and brand it with indignation
white-hot as light:
The pupils in our eyes were not born
to hide beneath their desks.
Mine meet his and
*Smile* It comes out right;
I think I’d been saving it for this day
I tell him I am finally
ready for the pictures.
We live by faith and not by sight.
#penance #red #ootd
City Hall. A girl in a little black dress
weaves through strangers and
straight for the bathroom -
for goosebumped skin and blue nailbeds it is
Sanctuary.
The lord, too, fasted forty days and forty nights
and knew no temptation.
When she can finally feel her fingertips
she approaches the mirror
with reverence and fear.
The body is a temple.
She is a devotee,
but faith is a road for the long-suffering
and she is tired.
The light that pools on her collarbones
wells up in their hollows and
becomes shadows as heavy as
flesh and blood, and flesh and blood are
all she has to
Carry her cross.
Freshen up.
*Smile.*
#consummation #pink #filter
Our showcase. We’ll call it “People Like Us”.
(We were inspired by the MV, bless her diva heart.)
It’ll be a big night, we’re expecting around 20,000
so everything needs to be perfect.
See with me: one family-friendly family.
Take, tissue. There’s a little blood on your mouth from
that day they found you in a damp cubicle
reeking of lust taking a man in your mouth,
and decided your shame was your crime.
Wash your hands, your encounters are not as
discreet as you imagine, and
I told you to settle down. Your eyes dart too much
as if they might sink with despair if they -
Sit still.
Here, foundation. Nude. The color of
naked men. They did say Chinese only.
Try not to speak, your accent will never be in season.
Keep working on the baggage,
nobody likes seeing your intersectionality
hanging over your chinos. It’s disgusting.
Before you do all that, scrub your radical face
Page 5 out of 6
Barely Legal
and don’t look so sour, hun, we’re just
giving them what they want.
Did you hear about the angry cheebye?
There was this girl, she couldn’t think beyond
the stuff between her legs and
her vagina grew so big it swallowed her whole.
You’re not thinking of getting one are you?
*Smile*, darling,
you look perfect.
Just like us.
Just how People
Like Us.
