Three Poems

by Allen Means

Allen Means is a queer, trans poet from Boulder, Colorado, currently living in Philadelphia. He holds an MFA from the University of Miami, where he was a James A. Michener Fellow. His work appears or is forthcoming in South Florida Poetry Journal, Voicemail Poems, Nimrod International, and Sweet Lit. He tweets @allenWhy

violations i commit against myself // in return for remembrance

i corpses // i forgiveness // i tend to the garden // i water it // i earth and unearth // its soil // i tend its flowers // even though one day it may be a construction site // a parking lot // or a sky scraper even though one day it may be // gone i // corpses // i forgiveness // i loiter // i collect broken bottles and turn them // i windchime // i looking glass // for my body // i keep my // own body // i         

never anyone but this // graveyard // i never spring // only cut flowers // so i take stems // and hope    sorry to the dirt // sorry for this body // and plant them.

colors we cannot name

the cashier at the grocery store asks me where i got the pepper spray on my keychain.

it's scary out there, she laughs.

i need one like that.

what a pretty blue.

i tuck its bright shell quietly into my palm.

          i ask her if she is alright.

i tell her that the color is easier to see at night.

          that it is brand new.

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