Birth
I read the news
In between baby announcements
From two old roommates
While I was sitting on the toilet,
Feeling like I gave birth to a demon.
It was just cramps and a clot,
Cells that could be flushed away,
But I’m also reminded
Of the haunting I experience
From this body that does not
Feel like my own.
“You’re too young;
“You will change your mind.”
“Motherhood is sacred,
The greatest accomplishment of a woman.”
I don’t even want to be a woman,
And I’m old enough to be jailed
For trying to take care of an accident
Or even just having an accident.
I could be punished for saving a child’s life
By giving them what I couldn’t have:
Help stop the metamorphosis
Before they become haunted
By demons that grow in their bodies.
In between the congratulations
I compose to my old roommates,
I think about aborting the girl friend they knew,
The daughter my parents had,
And plan for my own birth
One day.
Reasons I Want to Be a Vampire
I’m fairly nocturnal already.
I love bats, cats, spiders, and wolves.
Vampires have a wicked sense of style
(See Lestat, Selene, Pam, Marceline, Spike, etc.).
Sleeping in a coffin sounds peaceful.
People will take me seriously when I’m hangry.
People will take me more seriously in general
(Because looming presence and fangs).
Men will regret telling me to smile more.
I already look young so might as well actually not age
(And I’ll just eat anyone who thinks my ID is fake).
Do I even lift? Why yes, three times my bodyweight.
I can move even more quietly.
No one would get mad at me for running late
(Because I move too fast or I’ll just eat them).
I won’t ever have to ask for you to repeat what you said.
Goodbye orthodontal woes.
No more glasses or contacts or allergy meds.
No more sweating, overheating, or freezing my ass off
(Except when I’m malnourished).
Never having to worry about COVID again.
Lack of Vitamin D won’t make me depressed.
I hate seeing myself in the mirror anyway.
I kind of fade into the shadows so why not be able to disappear?
I want to die… but I also want to live.
(This could be a happy medium.)
If This Were an Olivia Rodrigo Poem
after Mark Gibbons
We’re 17 again
But with Grammys and Met Galas,
Yet take away the Chanel purses
And platinum records,
And it’s the same anxiety
Over pimples and prom
And another financial crisis
And our rights getting stripped away
Before we could even vote.
Journalists try to assign a decade—
60s, 90s, Y2K—
To our platform boots
And plaid minidresses,
As if girls must always emulate
And never create.
We just wanted to look cute
While we curse out
The fuckboys who broke our hearts.
Isn’t it funny
We need parental permission
To purchase our own music?
It’s not about being edgy
Or shattering an image we never had—
We never got to be the Disney princess anyway—
We just want to be able to feel
Angry and depressed
And jealous and insecure
Without being called anti-feminist—
Not all girls have to get along
And no one can always be strong—
But we know that we’re always
Going to be judged
For our looks, our words, our actions
So we let it all out
With the crunch of electric guitar
And the twinkling of piano keys,
Belting at the top of our lungs
Whether it’s into a mic at a sold-out show
Or to the open skies above us
As we drive alone past your street.
We Just Wanted to Dance
For those who called Club Q and Pulse home
We just wanted to dance
And possibly experience romance
So please let us live another day.
Trans, enby, lesbian, ace, bi, gay—
In the club, you can’t tell with one glance.
We just wanted to dance.
The runway is the only place we want to slay.
To be themselves, we hope every kid can have the chance
So please let us live another day.
Our stories are being legislated away
By politicians the NRA chooses to finance.
We just wanted to dance.
If fear and hatred are here to stay,
How can our society ever advance?
So please let us live another day.
Allies, it’s time for you to take a firm stance.
We don’t want sympathy or for you to pray.
We just wanted to dance
So please let us live another day.
Jennifer Elise Wang (she/they) is a nonbinary femme in STEM and punk rock pretty boi poet from Dallas, Texas. When she’s not in the lab or writing, she enjoys action sports, cosplay, dancing, and volunteering at the animal shelter. They have been published in Darling Lit, just femme & dandy, Exist Otherwise, and FERAL. She can be found at http://jenniferelisewang.com.
