Hydra

ugly as the day I was born	I carry my girlhood like an apology	
scraping dead selves 	off the soles of my feet		
onto the pavement		        onto the organic produce at Whole Foods	
onto my lover’s best pillowcases    	a sorry sight		

elsewhere 			a perfect specimen	
soft spoken	   unstained underwear	   graceful even in death		
my god		 	        I would kiss her 		
if only I could get close enough

I could have drunk 	from her forever	         and still thirsted 
for more		yes	             I know that greed
is unbecoming	     but I have all these mouths
to feed		and more     with every passing minute

each self I shed         shudders with pleasure		
at the rupture		each tiny death
a new freedom	    still 	 	I am embarrassed
by all this mess		 I’ve made  

out of the carnage	    another head sprouts	
bloody and screaming		  but so wholly mine
who’d have believed          that I could birth all this bounty?

arms full of daughter		mother		wife
neck aching	      from the weight	   of myselves
            I rise
leaving a trail of me	 	   in my wake

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Ally Ang is a gaysian poet and editor based in Seattle. Their work has been published in Queer Nature: A Poetry Anthology, Foglifter, Columbia Journal, and elsewhere. Find them at allysonang.com or @TheOceanIsGay.