pinnochio
real boy, pretty boy, half boy, not quite a boy, my boy, good old fashioned lover boy. salt-coated olive green boy, golden leaves of autumn boy, pomegranate pink boy. daughter, granddaughter, girl, sister, nightmare woman. knife blade, open flame, nonbinary, not your daughter, dead and gone gender. half gender, no gender, transgender. real boy, real boy, real boy gender. boy with skin like amber, cool to the touch, and hair the color of the earth from which he was born, boy with dark, coppery red blood coursing through his veins. street lights reflecting off the asphalt at night gender, ancient roman statues gender, havana gender, wine and weed gender, rip open a pomegranate with your teeth gender, drag me through town and hang me in piazzale de loreto gender. stone me gender, choke me gender, take me out back and shoot me gender, have me drawn and quartered gender, guillotine me gender, burn me at the stake gender, love me, kiss me, hold me gender. real boy, real boy, real boy gender. gender the color of serengeti grass, gender like the deep, rich navy blue of the appalachian night sky, gender the pale pink and orange of ripe peaches during a southern summer. make me cry gender, gouge out my eyes gender, rip me apart and sew me back together gender. rome is burning gender, eat my heart out gender, hit me, hug me, hail me gender. gender the rusty red of a half-healed skinned knee, gender the wispy gray of the smoke rings we blow out of our mouths, gender like a lit fuse. run from the cops gender, molotov cocktail gender, TV static gender, my transparent gender, real boy, real boy, real boy gender. purple bruises gender, sweet pink scars gender, my apocalypse gender, my end of the world. my never-ending gender, my infinity gender, my forever and ever, pinocchio.
