Asked if he considers me attractive now J uses the word consequence. Think clinical think screening
for intimate partner violence and coercion think
your current living situation. Think miles apart.
Have been trying on old clothes seeing what fits.
Cheeks thinning. Thought I’d be satisfied pleased
thought consequence. Sometimes I gain a pound
or two purge the next day. Think Tarquin the Proud
strolling the garden oblivious messenger in tow
pausing one sandaled toe digging into the earth
one bare knee coming up dirty. Cut off
my hair. Think surgical the tied lock lies on the table
inert. Visit E in hospice. You look so handsome.
Stoop to gather her kiss as if it were a lopped poppy head.
Joshua Zeitler is a queer, nonbinary writer based in rural Michigan. They are the author of the chapbook Bliss Road (Seven Kitchens Press, 2025), and their work has appeared or is forthcoming in Ploughshares, Foglifter, Diode, Wildness, and elsewhere.
