groceries for the week / homesickness for a past cultivated in sleep / five bucks for a friend / politically propped discomfort / a form of rent /
nervous ticking holes in skin / kissing the feet of womanhood / dad eyeing his to ask / “how much for delivery?” / apologizing / for being tender /
tonguing out flaws in television women / an unknown interloper gulping blood / dresses with pockets / and pepper spray /
crossing Broad Street / my new name buried in dad’s graveyard mouth / a friendly groping / assault named validation / compliance named after my mother / making out with a stranger pulsating / against a felt black wall / loving it this time /
cutie pink hat / buttons and buttons / abs tucked under flabby pouch that loves my stomach / fag flagging for the new century /
crossing Broad Street / 2:52pm / September / flaghats / five bucks and nose skin / every dykefaggot tattooed onto telltale throat / half-blinded bigot / rat-trapped by the neck / still writing angry poems / about my father’s future death /
living a Sylvia Plath dream / but keeping a cooler head / sick of coping / loosed skin / the etched names of martyrs between bugbite scars / this pleading metaphor
BIO: katbug is a nonbinary trans woman studying creative writing in Philadelphia. she's the recipient of the 2019 William Van Wert creative writing award and owns 5 swords (if you count the machete). find more of her work in VoicemailPoems, YesPoetry, yourfavoritejawns, Bedfellows, and elsewhere. follow her on twitter @mydadisold & instagram @wheelyshoes
