That

Vandal Poem of the Day: June 30, 2021

 by Yona Harvey

 I grew up with pickles. I slept in
 the attic (cigarettes, sheets laced with
 smoke). The heat of my father’s
 brother’s old room. Larry Blackmon
 painted for effect & Chaka Khan’s lips
 more like a kiss if a kiss could walk
 when it came to life. If a kiss
 could have hips & legs & ass—
 well, I wanted that.
 & if the colors could sweat & strip
 me down to my slip, well,
 I wanted that, too. Nobody knew
 what I was thinking up there.
 Though, maybe, they wanted that. That.

from You Don’t Have to Go to Mars for LoveFind more by Yona Harvey at the library
Copyright © 2020 Yona Harvey

Used with the permission of The Permissions Company, LLC on behalf of Four Way Books.

Published in Poems Yona Harvey

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Idaho Humanities Council, a State-based program of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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