I FELL TO THE EARTH MOUTH FIRST by charles theonia
It’s bad enough this earth suit keeps trying to kiss me
I left the bed open and clouds got in
My gut flaps worse if I finger
this feeling heavy with wings
prone to shedding butterfly
scales I willfully mistake for invitations
How on the moon could I expect love
It takes a few days’ ugly differences
to decide if hope’s embarrassing
or a serial devastation
A new thought can’t
yet hold its own weight
Wet and buckling under myself
I turn to painting lip gloss boys
Erections blush across the land
If no works are installed in the far
corner of the gallery
become the work yourself
The red extent of my empty throat
suggests I steal my outline back
(4/15/23)
charles theonia is a poet, enthusiast, and transsexual without direction. They are the author of If a Piece Falls off the Poem, Keep It (a Belladonna* chaplet) and other writings on gay zits, sexology, and disco.