poem: coming out day

poem: coming out day

1 January 2025    
from new p words

brandon goletzski 

 

i want to take my clothes off in front of you / then my skin too / toss it aside rumpled & empty

 

i want to take my clothes off in front of you
then my skin too
toss it aside rumpled & empty
i want to lay what i reveal in front of you
& have you love it
because it's me
& you find a way to love me

you told me to worry about people like me
so i worried about myself
you told me to fear people like me
so i feared what i might become
you told me to hate people like me
so i cut myself in half like a pig on the killing floor

i dug my hands in ripping nerve & tissue looking for that one piece my tearing fingers could extirpate that would make me whole

i found it
& it was not what you wanted it to be
it was everything you told me

here i am
every child i've ever been is layered around me like snake skins i never shed
help me take them off like you're touching my cheek for the first time
tell me you aren't going anywhere
tell me i'm okay
tell me you love me even more now
with no buttons, no zipper to secure myself back inside
i'll never wear myself the same with you

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

married to a map

 

never say die: the hard rules of suicide and map talk

 

never say die: the hard rules of suicide and map talk

   

bruce and gina

As soon as she couldn't handle it, I was like, no, I'm done. Uh, this won't work, nice try, I'm gonna pull out, and I left.

 

bly

We deal with the topic of suicide similarly to the topic of pedophilia: denial, pre-formed narratives and a fear of listening to details of the truth.

 

bly

We deal with the topic of suicide similarly to the topic of pedophilia: denial, pre-formed narratives and a fear of listening to details of the truth.

 
 
 
married to a map
bruce and gina

As soon as she couldn't handle it, I was like, no, I'm done. Uh, this won't work, nice try, I'm gonna pull out, and I left.

 
 
 
never say die: the hard rules of suicide and map talk
bly

We deal with the topic of suicide similarly to the topic of pedophilia: denial, pre-formed narratives and a fear of listening to details of the truth.

 
 
 
never say die: the hard rules of suicide and map talk
bly

We deal with the topic of suicide similarly to the topic of pedophilia: denial, pre-formed narratives and a fear of listening to details of the truth.