"Velveteen Moments" by Perrin Clore Duncan
All Animals are Trans by Kai River Blevins
a story of fear in three parts
one time in Washington Park
i made eye contact with a squirrel
and we both just sat there like
yes, i too have a body
that has been called vermin
i too know the combination of desire & disgust & wanton curiosity
how one passerby says “cute”
while the next tells his friend about that time
he and his family went on a hunting trip and killed one of me
the schadenfreude of my guts splayed across the ground
how they would have consumed me
but they heard about one of their friends who tasted my flesh
and now they joke about how uncivilized he is
so they just left me there
//
one time the vet apologized
for misgendering my dog
and those sweet dog eyes met mine
and we both just sat there like
but does she know
that our genitals don’t have anything to do with our gender(s)
that each time we see our reflection
we think only of being trapped inside this meat suit
how one day we will return to earth
how our dignity will no longer be at the mercy
of such hazardous worlds
as human mouths
//
one time i was watching
Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone
and Harry helped the snake escape by accident
and i hope that snake made it somewhere
that felt like home
and that Harry learned how he did that
and he returned to tear down the walls
and the whole world celebrated
by turning empty zoos into museums
where every plaque reads
once an animal was caged here
once we nurtured life only where it could be controlled & exploited
& used to remind others of the dangers of our wild
once we thought ourselves civilized.
i made eye contact with a squirrel
and we both just sat there like
yes, i too have a body
that has been called vermin
i too know the combination of desire & disgust & wanton curiosity
how one passerby says “cute”
while the next tells his friend about that time
he and his family went on a hunting trip and killed one of me
the schadenfreude of my guts splayed across the ground
how they would have consumed me
but they heard about one of their friends who tasted my flesh
and now they joke about how uncivilized he is
so they just left me there
//
one time the vet apologized
for misgendering my dog
and those sweet dog eyes met mine
and we both just sat there like
but does she know
that our genitals don’t have anything to do with our gender(s)
that each time we see our reflection
we think only of being trapped inside this meat suit
how one day we will return to earth
how our dignity will no longer be at the mercy
of such hazardous worlds
as human mouths
//
one time i was watching
Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone
and Harry helped the snake escape by accident
and i hope that snake made it somewhere
that felt like home
and that Harry learned how he did that
and he returned to tear down the walls
and the whole world celebrated
by turning empty zoos into museums
where every plaque reads
once an animal was caged here
once we nurtured life only where it could be controlled & exploited
& used to remind others of the dangers of our wild
once we thought ourselves civilized.
Kai River Blevins is a genderqueer/femme poet, writer, and cultural worker living in Oregon. Xe loves being queer, (coloring) books, flowers, punk, public displays of emotion, and social theory. Xe has work published and forthcoming at Nashville Review, Duende, Voicemail Poems, pnk prl, and My Kid Is Gay. Say hello to xem on Instagram: @kairiverblevins.
Perrin Clore Duncan, from Oklahoma, graduated from DePauw University in May 2017 with a B.A. in Economics and Studio Art. Her work has been shown and published in Ireland, the United States, and worldwide through online publications. Perrin currently pursues her M.F.A. at the Burren College of Art in Ireland.
Visit her on instagram at @perrincloreduncan.art or at her WEBSITE.
Visit her on instagram at @perrincloreduncan.art or at her WEBSITE.
