“Celebration No. 1” © Bonnie Matthews Brock

 

For Once, I’d Like My Beauty To Have A Lasting Impact

I don’t have to speak in tongues
To confuse her

With all due respect
She’s enticed by it

She pretends to not see me
When I walk in a room
With my red lips in a smile
And the hope strangers give me what I want

I am blood with champagne charisma
A little treat for the monsters

Bubbles in their guts
With the way I’m flawed yet composed

We lock eyes like forgotten lovers
And she’s angered by the audacity
Of a girl with nothing to lose
Somehow losing her head

I never lied about being beautiful

I was putting on a show but you already know
That this whole act’s just a ruse

 

Mela Regina “I am a 24 year old trans woman living in the DC area. Along with poetry, I’m a music journalist that frequently interviews local and touring bands. My current favorite bands are Death From Above 1979, Bratmobile and Viagra Boys.”

Bonnie Matthews Brock is a Florida-based photographer, as well a school psychologist. She loves hiking the urban and woodland trails of “anywhere” (and pausing often to shoot photos) with her very patient husband (and often collaborator), Ted. Her images have been featured on the covers of magazines such as Ibbetson Street, Wild Roof Journal, Poesy Magazine, Humana Obscura, and Arkansas Review; as well as on the pages of publications such as Oddball Magazine, Ember Chasm Review, Beyond Words Literary Magazine, Beaver Magazine, and Lateral. Her works are archived at institutions such as Poets House NYC, Brown University, and Harvard University.