The Jabberwock

queers don’t die
they just become unqueer
they button up their shirts
and they smile ear to ear
they kiss their spouse right on the mouth
keep note—there’s only one
queer things don’t just die, they must come undone

queers don’t burn
they only fade away
I have it on the calendar
my lipstick marks the day
you decided that you’d fix yourself
you showed up with your tie on straight

I’m waiting like a dog for you to come back to life
& hold me how a woman would, comforting her wife
I want your husband to exist as a silly little lie
but I know that when you leave a real man he doesn’t die
And I
Will
Wallow in ill will
Disappear
Dissolve just like a pill

I could never be your husband
for, when you leave for work
the clay frame of my shoulders disperses into dirt

“It’s about my experience of gender and queerness.”