Pre-Operative
As feral as I feel I know I am docile. Pretty
boy. Honey blood. Let’s imagine I am
a raven: a creature winged and worth
writing about. Claim the aggressive and angular. Bury
ovarian in bloom. Pretty boy. Honey blood.
When I fall I will land crooked but I will still be
beautiful. Let’s imagine I am something softer.
Let’s imagine I am a story in which nobody
dies at the end. Let’s imagine I stain
this body in orchids.
Pretty boy. Honey blood. Faggot. Firecrackers. I
am going to need you to cover my ears.
When you say my name for the first time I
want it to scare lesser animals. Perform
predator. I will never die
but if I do remember me as a cowboy. Perform prey.
Your father will see me like he sees any other girl and I will let him. I am
not crying.
When I fall I will land crooked but I will still be beautiful.
Mitchell Angelo is a junior Creative Writing major at SUNY Purchase, with a focus in poetry and a minor in Theatre & Performance. His work covers topics like gender, the environment, and anything pancake shaped.