He is like Him

Photo by cottonbro from Pexels

Photo by cottonbro from Pexels

In his physique. 

A body made beautiful now distorted 

He folds over himself as if 

To make up for his size he shrinks his impact 

There are empty rows but he still sits next to her 

Cramping her space as if huddled for warmth 

Tapping his fingers 

Shifting his eyes 

He seeks the companionship of strangers 

He rattles on and on about planes on the plane 

He knows them all 

He recognizes this plane itself as it rolls down the runway She doesn't want to talk 

And he silences his intelligent prattle. 

Which is replaced by her fingers clicking numbers on sudoku. Why would she care about planes anyway? 

That's his problem. 

No one cares about his sharp wit or shitty planes, 

His father never did. 

He thinks I don't know how it feels to feel forgotten 

An empty promise 

He thinks his wife doesn't either 

So he steeps in thought with no motivation 

He gorges himself on Potential 

And grows fat on the waste of it, 

His father isn't proud of him 

So how could he ever be proud of himself 

Yet my father isn't proud of me 

And I am proud. 

For now,

But maybe when I am old 

I will no longer be skinny and beautiful. 

Maybe

I will fuel my fire with alcohol. 

I will appear pregnant with ideas. 

Maybe

I will appear like him, depressed 

and stagnant. 

When I am not stagnant. 

I am still in waiting, 


Willum

(He/him) As an Antiguan queer Poet, Artist, Performer, and Ecology student, I of course have a very personal relationship with feminism as it relates to the West Indies. My work centers around the intricacies of colonialism, growing up a gay mixed kid in country, femininity, and how environment and culture collide. I've been told that art is how we decorate space and music is how we decorate time, and I believe that poetry is how we decorate the mind. As queer creatives of color it is so important for us to export our experiences and artistic talents outside of our queer bubbles and into the surrounding Caribbean world.

Previous
Previous

The Clean Up

Next
Next

I, Atlas