They took my ass while I was sleeping. I admit, I was sort of awake but beyond caring. Look, where did it ever get me? In youth, I was built like Gumby—reversible, really. If it weren’t for my face, you couldn’t tell if I was coming or going. There wasn’t enough to cushion my hip bones, fill out my jeans, and who wants that kind of attention, anyway? There was that jerk from Bloomfield Hills at the Aut Bar who grabbed it that time, then changed her mind. No one valued it, really, not even the thief who brought it back the next day—dumped it on my porch like a chicken shit. I stumbled over it getting the mail, its yellow post-it note taped to one cheek, “sorry, we made a mistake.”
Koss! What a wonderful play with the prompt and just a great example of voice — right from the jump, “They took my ass while I was sleeping. I admit, I was sort of awake but beyond caring.” The Gumby bit is also great — smart, funny.
Thank you, Rogan. I think this is my required queer body poem. 😉
Hi Koss, I love the voice of this piece. The queer implications, the missing details, mostly the humor, which seems partially missing these days from EVERYTHING! So appreciated in short form (and not easy to achieve!)
Hi Koss,
I love the bitter but cocksure voice of the narrator. You give us plenty to ruminate over here, and that last line is terrific.
“I admit, I was sort of awake but beyond caring.” — THIS, it works so well as a second sentence, instantly proving the narrator is a bit unreliable. Love when the first line of a poem is a bit of a lie. “Dumped it on my porch like chicken shit.” Love the humor and the reflection of the ass over time (built like Gumby, wasn’t enough to cushion) it’s sad and absurdist, which is often my favorite kind of writing. I’d love one additional descriptor at the end when you stumbled over it getting the mail, maybe something like “I, bandaged and gauzed, stumbled over it getting the mail…” something like that might add to the ending emotion
I really love the voice and playfulness of this piece! It was all wonderful!
Love the humor in this piece, and the personality that comes through in the voice. Great last line!
This is so funny but stings so hard! We all have body parts that aren’t the social/cultural ideal. Returning the ass is hilarious. Must be so small it isn’t even visible on the porch!