A Variable. A Choice. by Gervanna Gravity Stephens

southcoast / credit: de — april / credit: de

A Variable. A Choice.

A thing shyly revealed should be holy
obviously controlled by spirituality and politics
not self, like—

a womb, virginity, marriage, the body.

Imagine barcodes
tattooed like Chinese letters on the inside of your lip
alarms going off at—

I’m pregnant, I want you, I do, this isn’t me.

But what is holy if not free,
if not voice,
if not brash inconvenience or resounding solitude.

Imagine that the opposite of bad is you,
nothing preconceived, prejudices blotted,
an empty slate before the war
obviously in control

and what do we now name this power?

Gervanna Gravity Stephens

Gervanna Stephens is a Jamaican poet and proud Slytherin with congenital amputation living in Canada. Her works have appeared in Moonchild Magazine, Ghost City Press, Montreal Writes, Mojave Heart, and Empty Mirror. She is Assistant Editor with The/tƐmz/Review, hates public speaking, has two sisters who are better writers than her, and thinks unicorns laugh when we say they aren’t real. Tweets @gravitystephens.