Welcome to Litsy!

And so we reach the final recs grid on our Gay May countdown. It‘s been fun, y‘all. I hope you‘ll join me next month in reading all/mostly/more queer books.

I‘m thinking I should‘ve announced it as a Thing after all.

Anyway, today‘s all about poetry, and for once I present the titles without comment except to say they‘re all collections except for THE BLACK FLAMINGO, which is a novel in verse. Books tagged in the comments. #gaymay

Look what finally made it here @DinoMom at last!! I LOVE it and I read the poetry book cover to cover as soon as I got it out of the package. I‘ll be wearing the hair clips at work on Monday! It is the sweetest and you‘ve been the sweetest ever checking up on it getting here 🥰 @Chelleo

I‘ve spotlighted about a dozen great books by Black authors on my blog: https://lindypratch.blogspot.com/2021/03/spotlight-on-black-authors.html?

“you don‘t know loneliness until you are the only black gay kid for a million miles”
A beautiful collection of fierce, tender poetry that shows how the layers of geography, art and childhood create the complex life experience of a queer black femme Canadian poet. #LGBTQ #CanadianAuthor #BLM

I‘m waiting for new suns
New dawns, new days, new light
that casts shadows only to keep us cool
that makes melanin, loves melanin

New moons, maybe
for new nights
new dreams

This Body

I‘ve never given birth
but my stretch marks show this body holds the weight of a thousand lives

First Grade

the teacher told us to draw a self-portrait
I took the brown pencil and made lines across the paper
I kept inside the lines

“what‘s with the brown?” the teacher asked
and before I could say
it‘s the colour of me
her lip curled at the corner
she spoke words into my face:

“you should try harder to wash off the mud”

twenty years have passed and I‘m still trying
to wash off the dirt

the hardest thing about decolonization:
even the air we breathe has been colonized

I‘m back now
the brightest nebula of self-love I‘ve ever been
I rise early to watch faint orange stardust on the
horizon

(Photo from my friend Gail, who lives on the shore of Wabamun Lake & takes a sunrise photo every morning)

It‘s time to drink chai and read poetry. #24in48

Peachland

I didn‘t find a single peach
and I‘m fucking pissed tbh