Empress Dialectic
the empress cries / imposter syndrome / hallucinogenic games / utter confusion / suppressed bar codes scanned / consumerist dysphoria feasts me / westward from conventional reality / no guardian angel / will comfort me / steam erupts / a volatile geyser / people watch / questionable eye contact / salmon buoy in saltwater / when i see / facial hair / my adams apple / j.k rowling / cis women storm troopers / wear a pussy hat horde / a public restroom / hear the frat boy muttering / faggot / waiters emphasize / “sir” / sneered using / my valley girl vernacular / the filler word “like”/ assumed ignorant / by glass door employers / doctors gatekeep hormone therapy / family using my dead name / real name rarely believed / violent invalidation jabs / by ones truly obsessed / with their god-given / gender / acrobats juggling sharpened daggers / toss at lip glossy / cracked mirrors / enshrouded in / trans people’s blood / i dream of dying / all the time / living in / a bleak world / actively / stripping / humanity.
Until the moon comes out
Shall the hummingbird rise
Self-worth and love sows
The revolution’s seeds
To bourgeoisie demise
a faggy \ speaks valley girl dialect \ vanilla throats slit \ by a queen \ a joker \ a king \ flaming hands wear \ angelic stiletto nails \ vivid lip gloss paint \ slides my cupids’ bow \ red coral earrings \ vitally dangle my ears \ freshly shaven neck \ a holographic sheen \ a lace front brunette wig \ over my hair \ lavender metallic heels \ i imagine wearing \ a magenta palomo silk dress \ the mirror watches me \ passionately lip sync \ fka twigs \ blasting out laptop speakers \ a regal empress reigns \ southern california \ glistening like selenite \ sailor venus limelight \ there is so \ much beauty \ in \ being \ trans \ only a definition \ bitch i am living \ in euphoria \ embracing ambivalence \ a new horizon \ eastward with no escapist reality \ the city on the hill \ crumbles to dust \ unabashed vulnerability \ my true power awakens \ praying to no deity \ my genitalia exists outside \ illusory glass ceilings \ no longer climbing \ the destination \ is already within me \ what is in between \ my legs \ an intergalactic monarch butterfly \ deflects u.s. society’s militarism \ melts their utopian sheltered cottage \ and knows they will \ be for \ ever free
Emerald Rose Anastasia is a 26-year-old poet originally from Bakersfield, California. They currently reside in NYC and are pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing at the New School. This is their first publication.