thesis: Rock the Boat is a song about strapping, if for no other reason than
by m. mick powell
my own selfish association: femme dyke combing their room in cerulean light /
Aphrodite’s sage / a song played just for me /
smooth synthesizer / silicone slick & slayed across
their waist / thirst for synthetic champagne / sweat
& strawberry for the wet / for the way / they stroked
/ before sliding inside / this is not a synonym / or
unsubstantiated sapphic lust / it’s a matter of fact /
the phallic absence : the catamaran of femmes
pushing their pelvic bones together : ocean agape
& scissored against an amethyst sky, tender as the morning
ushered out the moon—this lover / my love / our acrobatics
suspending us / above fields of yarrow & honeysuckle /
the song of their name / a sweet plea / salacious sacrament
/ a swell before softening / saturated / satiated / swimming
& coming closer / the proverbial appetite / an incessant
kaleidoscopic rain /
m. mick powell (she/they) is a queer Black Cape Verdean femme, an artist, an Aries, and author of the chapbook chronicle the body. Their poems have been nominated for the Best of the Net Anthology and a Pushcart Prize, and appear in Frontier Poetry, Up the Staircase Quarterly, Tinderbox Poetry Journal, and elsewhere. A professor at the University of Connecticut in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, mick enjoys chasing waterfalls and being in love. Keep up with them at www.mickpowellpoet.com and on IG @mickmakesmagic.art.