why you big brown bearded boy wear a dress
they press me, and dispossess me
soliciting clarifying address on this repressed mess of largesse
it’s in their blood to suppress you see
make me undress and acquiesce you see
my blessed intersectional existence seems not my own you see
like many of your own, my kin, our ancestry a sin
interrogated, assaulted, destroyed, and then censored in history
those who are like me cannot thrive, deprived, and buried alive in discourteous antiquity
emboldened men, full of gobbledygook, spreading lies, stealing land, starting wars
i just know you crook Captain-Cook looking fuckers will Endeavour to make me all yours
gotta profess that many public queries are quite cruel, some benign, some curious
the fact to depress is that most are quite furious
why you big brown bearded boy wear a dress
you’re not allowed to express
gotta confess, these reservations bring me real stress and distress
despite my visage, scraps of privilege, me too have been pillaged, body trauma, sacrilege
they think we’ve made progress in excess, claiming minor success
that is but a half-truth, scribbled down in many a book
unless we come out and assess
as one tribe, admit they mistook and forsook, and they took and retook
nevertheless, i digress, i speak of one grisly peak, not unique for this freak
informing this bleak poem, and all that i seek
one particular repugnant street specimen tried his best to transgress and oppress
some studderin scum of a white brutha from anotha motha
just like all the otha that strived to smotha my greater than thou
my great greatest grandmotha
as much as you tried, she lives on in me
and you are left empty by yours, a husk of dead air
now hollerin trashy white noise, fat fist raised high to scare
cheered on by his bad boys, beat, butcher, burn this trash queer
why you big brown bearded boy wear a dress
in that split-second i split, racing thoughts coalesce
see to me, i decree, this body flying carefree
in the midst of all the hate that you give
or the death you might bring
i will be spillin on your lap my black tea
the politest reply to your enquiry
my friend not a friend, but i portend that you’ll mend one day
the message i’ll send before my end, is that i’ll do it my way
you see
my gender is fluid; it is akin to water
it slips through my fingers and takes many forms
it is a destructive force of nature, is a wonder to behold.
- 115: SPACE
with A Sometimes
114: NO THEME 13
with J Toledo & C Tse
113: INVISIBLE WALLS
with A Walker & D Disney
112: TREAT
with T Dearborn
111: BABY
with S Deo & L Ferney
110: POP!
with Z Frost & B Jessen
109: NO THEME 12
with C Maling & N Rhook
108: DEDICATION
with L Patterson & L Garcia-Dolnik
107: LIMINAL
with B Li
106: OPEN
with C Lowe & J Langdon
105: NO THEME 11
with E Grills & E Stewart
104: KIN
with E Shiosaki
103: AMBLE
with E Gomez and S Gory
102: GAME
with R Green and J Maxwell
101: NO THEME 10
with J Kinsella and J Leanne
100: BROWNFACE
with W S Dunn
99: SINGAPORE
with J Ip and A Pang
97 & 98: PROPAGANDA
with M Breeze and S Groth
96: NO THEME IX
with M Gill and J Thayil
95: EARTH
with M Takolander
94: BAYT
with Z Hashem Beck
93: PEACH
with L Van, G Mouratidis, L Toong
92: NO THEME VIII
with C Gaskin
91: MONSTER
with N Curnow
90: AFRICAN DIASPORA
with S Umar
89: DOMESTIC
with N Harkin
88: TRANSQUEER
with S Barnes and Q Eades
87: DIFFICULT
with O Schwartz & H Isemonger
86: NO THEME VII
with L Gorton
85: PHILIPPINES
with Mookie L and S Lua
84: SUBURBIA
with L Brown and N O'Reilly
83: MATHEMATICS
with F Hile
82: LAND
with J Stuart and J Gibian
81: NEW CARIBBEAN
with V Lucien
80: NO THEME VI
with J Beveridge
57.1: EKPHRASTIC
with C Atherton and P Hetherington
57: CONFESSION
with K Glastonbury
56: EXPLODE
with D Disney
55.1: DALIT / INDIGENOUS
with M Chakraborty and K MacCarter
55: FUTURE MACHINES
with Bella Li
54: NO THEME V
with F Wright and O Sakr
53.0: THE END
with P Brown
52.0: TOIL
with C Jenkins
51.1: UMAMI
with L Davies and Lifted Brow
51.0: TRANSTASMAN
with B Cassidy
50.0: NO THEME IV
with J Tranter
49.1: A BRITISH / IRISH
with M Hall and S Seita
49.0: OBSOLETE
with T Ryan
48.1: CANADA
with K MacCarter and S Rhodes
48.0: CONSTRAINT
with C Wakeling
47.0: COLLABORATION
with L Armand and H Lambert
46.1: MELBOURNE
with M Farrell
46.0: NO THEME III
with F Plunkett
45.0: SILENCE
with J Owen
44.0: GONDWANALAND
with D Motion
43.1: PUMPKIN
with K MacCarter
43.0: MASQUE
with A Vickery
42.0: NO THEME II
with G Ryan
41.1: RATBAGGERY
with D Hose
41.0: TRANSPACIFIC
with J Rowe and M Nardone
40.1: INDONESIA
with K MacCarter
40.0: INTERLOCUTOR
with L Hart
39.1: GIBBERBIRD
with S Gory
39.0: JACKPOT!
with S Wagan Watson
38.0: SYDNEY
with A Lorange
37.1: NEBRASKA
with S Whalen
37.0: NO THEME!
with A Wearne
36.0: ELECTRONICA
with J Jones