This piece was created in an attempt to articulate the distance created between myself and the self I present to the world.

This world would chew me up and spit me out if I let it / It would quiet me, destroy me / Rob me of my God

On the submission process: Every single no hurts, even the nice ones. Not only because I so badly want someone to say yes, but also because the financial burden of submitting is astronomical for some — especially those of us who are underrepresented voices.

Olivia and I are on my bed, all geared up to watch porn.

cleft and butchered, now diagrammed: / this male, this female, which is worse.

My mom seems to have grasped and accepted the concept of transgender identities quite well, but non-binary identities continue to baffle her. She seems to forget that forests exist, assuming instead that all beaches must slope directly into rocky peaks, allowing nothing to grow in between.