The Siren in Drag Sings ”And I am Telling You I’m Not Going”
by Jackson Neal
With a line by Elizabeth Bishop
My scales, fresh buffed opal. Sun
scented, a sequin dress, and fuckable.
I love my men, and when I don’t
I love the feel of them
powdered— dust of teeth and kneecaps.
Their ash beneath mint green acrylics.
I hex a boy and seethe,
you’re gunna love me.
When his eyes are empty
I demand he sing back:
not living without you.
It’s nice to hear. We slow
dance. I believe.
When he leaves, I hold him
to it.
God, when did I get so needy?
I own this realm! Two rivers, a continent.
Could split a sea and cat walk the middle.
Tear down the mountain.
An army of boys, like ants,
drown themselves to reach me.
What kind of diva gets lonely?
I’ve got the gladiola as
company.
I draw love
runes in the sand
and serenade what's left
of these stupid boys.
My scales, fresh buffed opal. Sun
scented, a sequin dress, and fuckable.
I love my men, and when I don’t
I love the feel of them
powdered— dust of teeth and kneecaps.
Their ash beneath mint green acrylics.
I hex a boy and seethe,
you’re gunna love me.
When his eyes are empty
I demand he sing back:
not living without you.
It’s nice to hear. We slow
dance. I believe.
When he leaves, I hold him
to it.
God, when did I get so needy?
I own this realm! Two rivers, a continent.
Could split a sea and cat walk the middle.
Tear down the mountain.
An army of boys, like ants,
drown themselves to reach me.
What kind of diva gets lonely?
I’ve got the gladiola as
company.
I draw love
runes in the sand
and serenade what's left
of these stupid boys.
Jackson Neal is a freshman at the University of Houston and a three-time member of Houston’s premier youth poetry slam team, Meta-Four Houston. He is the 2017 and 2018 Space City Grand Slam Champion, a 2018 National YoungArts Foundation Winner in Writing, and the 2019 Southwest Regional Youth Poet Laureate. His writing and videos have been featured in the Claremont Review, Apricity Magazine, Houston Chronicle, and elsewhere. A proud member of Clutch City, Jackson carries H-Town wherever he goes.
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