i. red and blue flannel shirt

buttoned up to the neck / this love precedes / me / soft looks / shaking hands / her
red blush / his blue eyes / i wish myself into / a straighter line / into pixie cut /
dangly earrings / black mascara / skipping lunch / it works / if forgetting is an answer
/ and if want / the only question

ii. ripped black skinny jeans

double cuffed at the ankle / my unshaven legs / twenty years old and still /
unravelling / i grow my hair long / shave half of it off / a kind of proclamation / see
the skin laid bare / see / purple lines / holes held together by threads / the fraying
edge / of a mouth / made perfect for secrets

iii. oversized denim jacket

stolen out of dad’s closet / sleeves hang down to my fingers / permission / to wear
want / rainbow patch over breast pocket / a blaring siren / or / trick of the light /
denim covers curves / i hide beneath my words / cross and uncross my legs / into
wish or promise / or consequence of want

iv. brown timberland boots

rip-offs from target / heavy on my feet / i walk until a blister forms / and i too am
broken / in / an old identity thrown out / with the heels / i try on labels / see what
fits / gay / straight / bisexual / or / a feeling as old as the pink flannel shirt / in my
closet / i name the line between knowing / and denial / i call it / home

Kaya Lattimore

 

Kaya Lattimore is a Filipina-Australian writer and performance poet. As a queer womxn of mixed ethnicity, she writes to express, explore and ultimately reclaim all facets of her identity and lived experience. Her work has appeared in be:longing, Umbel & Panicle, The Brown Orient and Cicerone Journal.

© 2019