Nathan Wade Carter

Pit

it turns out even progressive straight white cis men are still likely to scoop your pit out of your fruit / suck on it / and spit it onto the asphalt

turns out they are still uncomfortable with queers and people of color

hired for the cred but fired for being what we are / using language and space different / we have had to

my udder is dry / my eggs born without shells / my existence still called into question

you distant unfortunate sameness / you drop of toxic patriarchy poisoning the water / you oil spill of good intentions / but don’t worry / you hire the people who clean the birds for the cameras

we are too lost and you know what / this mistake will come back around whether soon or soon enough

you don’t believe women or queers or beautiful brown people or people of different startlingly sparkling abilities

and equality feels like oppression to you because you’ve never felt the heavy cold hole it bores into you

I’m sorry I’m not ending more positively but until I see a hopeful turn I will steel myself to the gale / after all we were born in this

Nathan Wade Carter (he/him) is a queer, grey-a, non-binary poet, musician, and artist living in Portland, Oregon. His chapbook is ROYGBIV (Ursus Americanus Press 2017). His poetry can be found in Hobart, Fugue, Gramma Poetry, Poor Claudia, The Fem, and others. He is the editor and founder of SUSAN / The Journal. He writes and performs songs under the name Purrbot. He co-facilitates the generative writing salon Creation Island with Zulema Renee Summerfield. Find him online at nathanwadecarter.com.