Noble/Gas Quarterly chose me as their September Objects of Derision feature. They interviewed me about my inspirations for writing Crumb-sized, — being bullied as a kid and somebody actually calling me “smaller than a crumb” — and included four old and new poems.
“It should be called womenstruate,” which was first published in Wicked Banshee Press’s The Devil’s Doorbell: Vagina Edition, questions the way menstruation sounds like men. The prefix makes it seem like a male activity or a male word given to such a female part of life. Through periods, women are connected. We seep together.
“Unfold me gently,” which was first published in Crumb-sized, uses lyric and imagery to explore what bodies are, what disabled bodies mean.
“Migration” is how I feel about borders. They’re imaginary and human-made. We must remember, we don’t really own land. We’ve been migrating and immigrating since the first people could walk. The politics of immigration, of keeping suffering people out, of denying a person’s life, are impossible to ignore and impossible not to grieve. As a poet, I hope I can help by raising awareness in some small way.
“The only awkward one” is a brand new poem! I’m working on a book of poetry about my summer camp, and this is a sneak peak.
Thank you, Noble/Gas and Editor-in-Chief Emma Fissenden! And what a great issue 204.3 is!