i didn’t faint for feint of you

by Shana Bulhan

i code neon
whiten and wittify

no quiet or penance
just an ice dream of injury

to certify splendour
if not for whipped dew
then some damn flower

when i lose you
i won’t need to gender you
for i am stone

marking the spectre
no more chemical names
for our nights

someday the sky should open
or the earth
if we need it to be hell
then so be it

what is the point of womanhood
if all it does is wound?

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