Venus Selenite
after diagnosis
—to kendrick
project runway came on last night
and i recalled
you wanted to be fashion designer
of the world
remembering
pen strokes and shades from colored pencils
sketchbooks dyed with outlandish conceit
carried in your superman backpack
it was supposed to be
your runway
but
it
happened
and it’s none
of my business
why
my legs might
wrap your denim
around
perhaps my feet will
cushion into alexandrite studded sandals
you visualized
i’ll turn on the first strobe light
you can
still
slay
galaxies
when you are
ready
Venus Selenite is a writer, performance poet, culture worker, and sex educator. A native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, she lives in Washington, D.C., crafting poems about intersectionality, identity, suffering, joy, and liberation. She is a contributor to BlaQueerFlow: The Griots’ Pen and Coming of Faith, planning to study for her B.A. in English at the University of Maryland University College, and is a staple on D.C.’s queer and trans poetry scene.