I.
There are only so many ways to drown a girl
so slice away her name instead, syllable
by syllable, like you’re shaving off her limbs,
wounds uncauterized in case you need
to piece her back out of order. Think:
Anatomy Jane, all her insides out.
II.
& so for a girl to love another girl,
she must show the world not her heart
only but lungs & spleen & kidney &
belly lining & each shit-filled
crevice of her intestines.
Think: a colonoscopy without anesthesia.
III.
Don’t forget to tag evidence of their love across
AO3 fics & Wikis & Tumblr GIFS like scene-of-the-crime
police bags. Don’t ask why a man pulls you
to a corner, asks for a kiss from one of your kind.
Think: despite mold, an orange tree grows
between sidewalk cracks.
IV.
Each space erased between their names is a step closer
to breath. If it’s possible for Jennifer & Morgwen &
Gabra & Pary & Supercorp & Cartinelli & Bechloe
to breathe the same air between their lips, you too can share
with the girl of your dreams, a single lung. Think: you are drowning
then learn you have been a fish your whole life.
V.
(Disclaimer: To love a girl you must hide
between slash stories, bouncing between
pages of code, hold her hand
only when tagged “alternative universe.”
Don’t forget it will never be codified in canon.)
Sarah Harder is a queer, Florida-based poet. She received an MFA in creative writing from the University of South Florida, and has been published in various literary journals, including Rock & Sling, Glass Mountain, and Furrow Magazine. Harder is a recipient of a Fulbright fellowship and teaches English as a Foreign Language at the University of Agder in Norway.