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Shirley Temple – 8/24/18
A is for animal crackers in my Alphabet Soup.
It also stands for:
All the letters cannot be used.
B is for...
Okay look...
B is for bad planning
Because there are 26 letters in the alphabet
And right now I’m only 25.
C is for counting
Because what happens when 27 creeps up on my shoulders?
It’s not 30, I can’t be 29 forever.
C is also for sheep.
The ones I never counted
When I walked back from one thousand to get to sleep.
D is for daddio.
Papa doe.
Daring. Dashing. And Dapper.
Wearing suits straight out of magazines
Making every other kid jealous that their dad wasn’t that cool...
Or annoying.
D is also for dynasty.
Or rather legacy.
Or more like ancestry.
And may I never forget where I came from.
E is for exhausted.
I’m five letters in
And if you’d like to see the exit
Follow the emergency lights at your feet.
F is for Finn.
Like a dolphin.
Shark’s fin.
Aodfin.
For being mine twice
And for so long after
I am always here
Sending you stuffies
Don’t forget to write
Or call
Put me on your speed dial
G is for Grace
Amazing Grace
Viola Grace
Grace with a C
My Gracie Lew Who
My gloriously gorgeous girlfriends
Who have shaped me more than they knew
H is for...
Hannah
And hell in a hand basket
For he who will never be mentioned
And Harry Potter
For my lack of fists fights
My plethora of harsh words
But my comfortable hugs after
I is for I
For me
For hello I’m queer and I’m here
And you’re not stopping me today
Oh no
Not today
I’m on my way
I’m Dr. Seuss at this rate
Give me a book deal I’m rolling
J is for Jade
Like the gemstone
My middle name
My bisyllabic middle beginning
The only thing ET could pronounce right at Disney World
My sparkling shining J
With its loops and curves and...
K is for Kimberly and Kent
My parents
My...
Tough love
Work hard
Get your shit done parents
Who split at age 10
And finalized it after 11
More years
They did what they planned really
And I don’t blame them
L is for love.
An unconditional lather of lavender soap bubbles from laughter
For Brooke with an E from Seattle
Blowing bubbles wands in traffic jams
And men picking fights
With a woman they wouldn’t have a chance with...
I mean against.
M is for...
Did you know in 2015 they said I could marry?
The queers cried happy tears that day.
N is for the n word
The negro
The night sky
Carrying us home
Follow the drinking gourd they say
Follow the drinking gourd.
O is for optimism
My forever the extroverted optimist outlook
Somehow hiding around the corners of my mind
Ostracizing itself from my overall outrageous outgoing state of be
P is for
Personally I will not get offended if you walk out those doors
But you’ve made it this far
I promise there’s only a little more
Q is for quilts
The ones etched in my memories
The ones I clutched so dearly
Crafted by my great grandmothers fingers
Her love sewn into each and every stitch
R is for rainbow
By Jessie J
For Radioactive
Relient K
OneRepublic
Lana del Ray
S is for Sister
10 years
10 months
1 day
14 hours
And 14 minutes
My sister
Older
Wiser
But I’m funnier
S is for the brother I gained
And the children I will always adore
S is also for my SDG
The one my heart first yearned for
Late night talks
And agreeing to disagree
90 percent of the time
T is for tyranny
For big heads
And little arms
Am I talking about people?
Or dinosaurs?
That’s up to U
For U.
For remember when chat speak was popular
And we didn’t use our ultimately untimely interruptions of
You’re and your.
Their there they’re, my friends.
It was once characteristic
Wut up?
U there?
I’ll brb my pos
Jk I’ll ttyl
There’s the dial tone
Ring ring ring
Guess who’s on the phone?
I hope y’all are old enough to remember
Euphorically engaging in chat logs with friends
Back when Dial Up was the only thing in your @ mentions
V.
Like violets
Geraniums
And the chrysanthemum I had tattooed on my back.
For vivacious and vivid
For verily merely dancing down sidewalks and side streets
W.
11:11
For when I whimsically wish for my wicked wretched weakness in my limbs to go away.
For everything to be okay.
But before you begin whining while your eyes are wilting
X.
Marks the spot.
Goonies never say die.
Treasure Planet
And Atlantis.
Y.
As in, I’ve lied. 25 is too damn close to 26 and I enjoy yearning for the end.
Z is for thank you.
For the zany adventure.
The black and white zebras.
The white and black zebras.
And everything read all over.
Now you know my ABCs. The ones that make up me. Let’s go again, shall we?
Geronimo and Allons-y.
