by Jeffrey Bryant
 |
| Protestors gather outside of the Central Branch of Howard County Public Library in Columbia MD on Monday, Feb. 26, 2024. Inside the library, the Howard County branch of Moms for Liberty prepares to hold a meeting to discuss how to approach removing books that might be seen as sexually explicit in the Howard County Public School district. (Sam Mallon/for the Baltimore Banner) |
still here, still queer, we awaken
to a feeling mighty real reveille,
for another day of thrusts and parries
against public monsters who
fly erasure’s blood red flags
blinding with the whites of their lies.
there’s politics inside our orgasms.
sucking you is forbidden speech.
we didn’t sign up for war,
we were drafted
by our body’s desires.
we spend all night in each other’s arms
keeping our tongues safe from harm
during nightmares, insomnia,
and the morning alarm, until
another reveille of feeling real.
Jeffrey Bryant is a queer poet/writer who lives in Los Angeles. He has been or will be published in the Los Angeles Weekly, the Los Angeles Times, Poetic Diversity, the New Verse News, Poetrysuperhighway.com, and in the forthcoming November issue of Synkroniciti Magazine. His work has also appeared in the anthologies The Coiled Serpent from Tia Chucha Press; the 2020 Altadena Literary Review from Shabda Press; Shadowplay Literary Journal from the University of Arkansas and Sparring with Beatnik Ghosts from Mystic Boxing Commission Press. His work has been nominated for a 2024 Pushcart Prize.to a feeling mighty real reveille,
for another day of thrusts and parries
against public monsters who
fly erasure’s blood red flags
blinding with the whites of their lies.
there’s politics inside our orgasms.
sucking you is forbidden speech.
we didn’t sign up for war,
we were drafted
by our body’s desires.
we spend all night in each other’s arms
keeping our tongues safe from harm
during nightmares, insomnia,
and the morning alarm, until
another reveille of feeling real.