And this next poem actually recently came out
in Ninth Letter as the winner of the Ninth Letter Literary Prize
for Poetry--
Congrats.
--chosen by the incredible Tommy Blount.
And this is the opening poem of the new collection.
The name of it comes from a term originating actually
on Craigslist, where form connections-- there
is M for F, male for female, et cetera, et cetera.
And the phrase T for T is trans person
seeking another trans person.
"T4T"
"There is no known route for how the word 'cum' came to mean,
what it does.
But imagine, if you could stitch a lineage back
to the Latin cum, meaning to step--
hence, movement; hence, a destination.
The body moving, perhaps dancing toward a kind of end,
vanishing point of flesh, trembling tongue,
fucked, apocalyptic.
Apocalypsis.
A veil shifted, and what awaits beneath.
Realms by any other given name, still draw blood if it wont.
But shit, turns out there's no emoji for a rubber
dick sat heavy on the tongue.
Go figure.
I can still feel it twitch, hold you in my mouth--
spit, slick, apocrypha, sweet faggot,
magic, the way we speak organs out of their Christian name.
Link cock to clit, bruise breast to flatten chest,
bury knuckles inside a wet new anatomy.
Sucked finger shudder.
Lust.
Hot alchemy.
Holy, how even air becomes wind with moving?
Holy, how you fuck me by my one unburied name?
And when I tell you how beautiful you are,
you write laughter, kiss me, and call me a dyke.
Your smile arrives day-bright, unburdens
the slur of all its blood."