Phantasmagossip

by Sara Mae

Phantasmagossip by Sara Mae is a packed funeral. The poems mourn shouting over one another to tell a story, squeezing hands of strangers and loved ones, picking at the many homemade mac n cheeses. The game of the Exquisite Corpse, usually played by many, is used here as a way into polyvocality, intimacy, and remembrance. Here, the poems infuse formal tradition with discomfort, adapt the shapes of literary and queer ancestors, speculate fleeting worlds of gender as the speaker sees theirs through and alongside best friends. Phantasmagossip does not romanticize death, but instead grapples with the stakes of gendered violence and the simultaneous desire for pleasure, dissecting accusations of dangerousness levied against women, fems, genderqueer speakers. The speakers seek acceptance of their own queer desires, alongside the grief that being looked at and desired is not always the same as being seen.

Genres: Poetry

32 pages, Paperback

Published March 18, 2025

Reviews

[Elena Macdonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

i LOVED this. loved the meditations on gender

[Phoebe · Rating 5 out of 5]

really really good