in defense of my yankee boyfriend
i want nothing
more than randomized curvature
from yours then his then yours again
feign my line of questioning to drain
chromosomal sacks of malcontent from every whatever
i spit to flame.
from the underbelly i settle hard
swallows gauzed in sweat or other. i carve myself anew
& instinctively age five years to spite myself:
how liberals claim territory
with partially digested rage. in our crustacean romance
i let it happen.
RACHEL STEMPEL is a genderqueer Jewish poet and educator. They were a finalist in the 2020 New Delta Review Chapbook Content, longlisted for the 2020 Fish Publishing Poetry Prize, and their work has appeared in or is forthcoming from The Nasiona, New Delta Review, The Journal, Penn Review, Porter House Review, and elsewhere.
