Joan Tate


RE: The Upper Bend

Two dykes love me from the cafe window 
gave them a prophet to chew on

a name written backwards 
and slapped on my forehead

quotations of quotations of Sodom
all the best skip town

i’m sorry for what i said about your dog
i’ve forgotten how to hang

plovers of the mind
your birthday is gonna feel awful

cuspy cuspy cusp cusp

oblique light leaking 
from your eyes, non sequiturs 

regarding my tits
no non sequitur at all

the words are balmy and flow
every process is a truth, baby lions verb,

though this hasn’t hit home yet
high, i drive home drunk

drunk, i drive home high

call me if you wanna take a chance
give the world my number

i am everybody’s half-assed sacrifice
i am anyone’s captive audience

a sex toy sans silicone
there’s a boat with nobody’s name on it

dangling from the prick of the sky

 

Joan Tate is a southern poet, mystic, and transexual currently living in Great Falls, Massachusetts. Her work can be found in Prairie Schooner, Rhino, b l u s h, Little Mirror, Stone of Madness, Imposter Review, and more. She serves as a tutor at Smith College and the hostess at a gay bar. She’s probably down by the canal.

 

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