Queerdom
A Poem of Protest by Rick Benjamin
latest dispatches from inner ear
Headlines today: most erotic moment
when sun hit face, left cheek still in a
state of ecstasy;
: humans - only species
reducing erotic to something sexual
or gendered;
: meanwhile breeze
entered ear, caressed & teased membrane
we call, drum, until percussive hum exited
that sonic cavern, cave, tunneling its way
back out into trees & dry fall leaves where
they continued to rustle;
: when someone thinks
they should govern desire or identity
or insist on any of the binaries, both
human & more-than-human they
should be summarily deposed
by the whole sentient world
&, in the event of shyness
on part of humans, all
other species will
affirm this, one,
Constitutional;
: tribunals along
lines of reconciliation
shall govern
the days & nights; making amends,
asking for forgiveness (no matter
the outcomes); crow caws (tercets
& quatrains mostly), & same inter-
vals between calls, are well worth
listening to (murders generally
knowing what they’re on about);
: mexican purple
sage round here attracts all of the
hummers, bees, hovering birds. A
whole bush can vibrate with all
of that sweetness.
: that ear drum’s
all scar tissue tbh; a thinner skin
was ruptured long ago & that low
drone you’ve been straining to
hear’s the queerest thing you’ll
ever hold.
Rick Benjamin (he/him) lives on unceded Chumash land in Goleta, California. He currently teaches classes and facilitates workshops to students aged five to, currently, 101.
