“Ballroom Shade” © Robert Fleming

 

My Name (Deadname)

My name is like
an ugly sweater
that doesn’t even fit right,
but my parents gifted it to me
so I have to like it,
otherwise
I am rude.
My name is a house
built on its side,
able to be used,
but doesn’t work quite right.
My name is like a bad haircut.
I try to change it to like it more
but my parents prefer the original.
My mind yells to keep my name
just the same,
to avoid being ridiculed by my parents.
They say changing my name
so it feels right
and doesn’t hurt to hear
is like a middle finger to the face.
My feet hurt
from wearing shoes that don’t fit.
My ears are bleeding
from a name with six blades.
My shoulders are broken and out of place
from holding respect for the people
that love my ugly name.

 

Vic Ericson (he/him) is a 15 year old proudly trans-and-queer multimedia artist and writer from Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, though currently resides in Texas. Since age four, he’s spent all of his free time creating. Creations ranging from drawings, to clay sculpting, to painting, to sewing, to animating, and to writing. For the past four years, he’s been working on a personal project of a webcomic and novella with already 30+ characters. He takes inspiration from everything he can, like family, his hometown, music, society, and other works of fiction and poetry. Though frequently changing, his fascination is currently fixated on drawing, painting, and poetry.

Robert Fleming (b. 1963) is a gay (he/him) visual poet from Lewes, Delaware. Books: Con-Way in 4 in 1, #4, by Four Feathers Press and White Noir by Devil’s Party Press. Contributing editor of Old Scratch Press and shortlisted for 2023 Blood Rag Poet of the year.