ALTERNATE UNIVERSE IN WHICH I AM THE MOTHER
by Crystal Valentine
I spot it in the lineup of other soft faces
halo irises brown mud black I enter a nursery
of sorts the stork banished to shadow mothers
who are not gather to claim their prize one leaves quick
precious yolk easing into her palm
another so barren baby names dissolve
between her teeth arms a firm bend permanent rock
a bye her shrill of a purse a gentle replacement
bald headed babes whimper
into dream the ceilings have been painted a violent blue
there is nothing wrong with me I bleed once
every 28 days I bathe until translucent
the application states successful candidates keep a clean house
I inscribe the spiked black lines with my maiden name
the one I want has already began teething
I am called
behind a glass curtain the lady in white asks if I’ve answered
all the questions do I know how to smooth white powder
into paste? where is my partner?
is ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶s̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶he on board? did ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶s̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶he read
the daddy companion pamphlet?
in the time before my time they burned down the abattoirs
but kept the wombs
I had that dream again
pink walls pink crib
baby’s teeth swung and clank like wind chimes
against themselves gums rain red the milk
pink too
the lady in white shows me a picture of a woman soothing
a pink faced child can you do this? the application requires
I update my past I have a simple history:
nothing that wails in my hands has a pulse
Crystal Valentine is a Black, queer woman from the Bronx. She is a Callaloo fellow, a former NYC Youth Poet Laureate, and a two-time winner of the College Union Poetry Slam Invitational. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in the Academy of American Poets Poem-a-Day, BreakBeat Poets Vol. 2: Black Girl Magic Anthology (Haymarket Books),TriQuarterly Magazine, Winter Tangerine and elsewhere. She received an MFA from New York University and is the current festival manager for the Massachusetts Poetry Festival.