Status Updates From Archive of Desire: A Poem i...

I grieve for the ways patriarchy strips boys of their childhood. The few times I have fallen for a man, it is usually because he has a beautiful boy still inside him, a boy who is smart and loves to play. Or maybe none of this has anything to do with the sham of gender. Maybe I just like intelligence and pleasure.

Ambrosial perfumes,
pearly combs to groom
our raven‑black hair.

For a long time now
I’ve been working on finally
giving my body its hooves—

Not to touch the ground, but
to race
upon the water.