OTHER GENDERS

after Margaret Holley

Cackle of rope. Intelligentsia
of knots. Cartoon terrain fluff, fauna, feast.
Player piano haywire glissando.
Flinging beside the beast. Grokking the beast.

The beast. Reek, croon, funk. Seraphs unslimming
sans underwear, harp-dark in leather. Black
holey, raspy mercy, knick-knack, payback.
Stiletto through palm of grizzled questions.

Good riddance! Sissy bliss opposition!
Embezzling goddamned loose dazzle! Ruth-
less. Hopeless-less. Fortress. Theory's teeming
ache. Bloodmoon an earring between the teeth,

its shy moonmoon humming. Chitchat. Dinging
the chatbox. Torrential, clear. Future: near.

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GRLHOOD

My grlhood clear&future My grlhood
near torrential My grlhood limp-wristed
My grlhood twisted&alligator
-lipped My grlhood marbles tonguepopping pre
-cise directionlessness&mess of won
-der My grlhood moonstoned My grlhood loomed
&looming plummed&pluming My grlhood
protected so a snake mouth My grlhood
snake mouth so beautiful My grlhood kite
of pussy bows in traffic jams My grl
-hood quasar My grlhood quasi-twin My
grlhood magnifying glass&yodel
My grlhood my grlhood My grlhood feet
turned firelight&nectarsweet My grlhood's
                             diamond hands she spilled them all out to me


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BOIHOOD

My boihood's diamond hands he held them out
to me My boihood eel thick/&slick leash
My boihood bungee My boihood lunging/
languish/banquet/&My boihood parish
/aloe trick My boihood gleam tumbled from
dust/&grit My boihood tiger eyed My
boihood eyeroll To curl/to lace/to wan
gle my boihood My boihood jingle/jan
gle My boihood flabby hipped My boihood
quip/tap/tarp My boihood squeaky harp/&
honkey geesed My boihood taffeta scarf
My boihood scarfed/&dawdled My boihood
my muster My boihood fluster/poly
ester my island palm My boihood cym
                             bal crammed My boihood diaphanous/land


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ITHOOD

My ithood crammed land&undiaphan
ous ;; my ithood meshblush&triangle
tip ;; my ithood glammed latex iride
scence ;; my ithood subwayhowl&metal
lic ;; my ithood flick&cacophony
schtick ;; my ithood brake breakless lakeless ;; my
ithood fickle gimme hammer sickle ;;
my ithood hummer ;; my ithood rubber
rune floomsweat&spruce neck ;; my ithood who
next ;; my ithood gimp mask glimpse gasp ;; my it
hood grapple swap&gape ;; my ithood rib
bon weld&wrest ;; my ithood gripgripe&
loll alert ;; my ithood leveler leav
ener lip&holler elastic ;; my
                             ithood treechained ;; no my ithood won't leave

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HIRHOOD

My hirhood treecluster & muddy leaves—
my hirhood thick stitch—my hirhood sheen&
mustard seed—my hirhood reed&swamp—my
hirhood addled pomp&try&clump—my
hirhood here&there—my hirhood heard&
fray—my hirhood twang&fiber—my hir
hood spacious—my hirhood oddly shaped all
silk&fuse—my hirhood stretched—my hirhood
lewd&fuss—my hirhood witness—shitless—
mix&mistless—my hirhood slurry purr
—my hirhood seared&peer—my hirhood pair
&teem—my hirhood confit&sheer&
bonfire&touch—my hirhood punch&tare—
my hirhood everywhere—my hirhood weav
               ing arms—we braid loose threads into our hair

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THEYHOOD

My theyhood loose wefts&My theyhood crammed&My
theyhood diagonals&My theyhood read
ylands&My theyhood technical theydys
&My theyhood salves&savory&My they
hood faggotry feats&My theyhood pageants
of syrupy moons&My theyhood wildboned
&My theyhood bombastic bunches&My they
hood launch & quarks & sea-squirt-limbed&My they
hood sway&My theyhood interrobangs&My
theyhood hold their weights&My theyhood anti
dote&altared&My theyhood rollicking
&My theyhood persimmons&paroxys
ms&My theyhood calyxburst&My theyhood
splendors&My theyhood croon your legs on mine
                             there're so many places we can touch

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This sequence lives within a sonnet crown, collectively titled "Toward a Theory of Gender." I don't usually write sonnets, but they've been curious, shapeshifting containers as I've started thinking about echolocation—how a poem can ricochet sound to mark/make space—as a strategy to imagine nonbinary gender possibilities, even gender euphorias, which have always been possible and are possibling right now.