another trans friend asked me why are we all so obsessed with cyborgs
& another time asked about tattoos. later I added hook-handed pirates
& body horror. I guess modifications are legs shaken from their sea
sleep. the ways our bodies alchemize themselves. a final girl runs
from the slaughterhouse. or the mansion on a great hill of blood. or her own
apartment off king street. threat of meathook & cleaver propels her
animal unmaking. she’ll survive. just to survive. which is why it’s pleasurable.
to watch her stretch herself from the bear trap. I would’ve given in.
willingly. pick me. I beg the cannibal in the cupboard. unmake me. fumble
in basements. keep spackle on hand. hope for body rot. un-safe
myself. the audience jeers. waits for the virgin with long hair. even if
I qualify for final I’ve trans-ed out of girl. no one cares enough
to kill me. not even me. even if the door in the mountain let me in.
I’d have to bring this tired body.
Madeleine Poole is a genderqueer poet and MFA candidate at The University of North Carolina Greensboro. Their work is featured in storySouth.