Poem by Max Gardinier /
the queers on the internet say it’s time
to arm ourselves mirror selfies / ugly guns and
ryan walters superintendent of oklahoma schools
says there is no such thing as ‘transgender’ or ‘nonbinary’
says God created man & woman & nothing
else and senator tom woods of westville oklahoma says
i represent a constituency that doesn’t want filth in oklahoma
(us)
tom woods who looks like a thumb with thin lips
says we are going to fight to keep that filth out of the state of oklahoma
because we are a christian state and that’s what God would
have wanted right ? thumby state senators calling queers filth
during a legislative forum summoned in response to the brutal death
of a child
of you you
the brave the unapologetic the special
these little men were handed power by the institution & do not can not will not understand they say your death was
a suicide
queer joy is built on scars & that’s what makes it worth
all the unlove from the christians & the contemptibles & the callous
and None of those motherfuckers will ever know heaven
cus heaven isn’t up in the sky their dirty prayers won’t do shit
heaven is heaven is living authentically despite
heaven is what we all learn in that living
what the poor unfortunate majority can never know
what they kill us for the threat of their unknowing
they have already begun to rot and
the genderqueer is the most beautiful weapon in the world
Max Gardinier is a senior English major at Colgate and the editor-in-chief of Allegorical Athena. She just completed her thesis, a collection of poetry, and she looks forward to living with her cats post-graduation.
