Lizard Brain
how embarrassing of you / to have so many goddamn mouths /
each one full / of unclaimed paper receipts /
spilling out of their grocery store self-checkout dispensers
aimlessly / matthew david / you sweetheart / are you telling me
you can’t possibly spell goodness without god /
you act like intersex folk are the titanic / and not the iceberg /
it pains me to tell you / it is quintessentially the opposite /
nobody’s gonna read a book / about missing chromosomes /
hello it’s 2021 / and we’re craving stories that’re complete /
how do you not know how to swallow pills / how do you not
know how to swim / how do you not know how to be anything /
but unemployed / can’t you call yourself something / other
than smoke in a swollen throat / just because your mother
is anaphylactic / doesn’t mean you are too / go back to therapy /
get a job / eat more fiber / i will not call you intersex / because
i don’t like that word very much / it doesn’t roll off the tongue
like busted does / matthew david / you’re not gonna win the pulitzer /
you’re never gonna be best in show / you’re never gonna win
miss america / you are just a person / quit trying to be anything more /
please stop listening to the stranger / it’s not even a masterpiece /
how can you liken that gut to stained glass / you will never be that
beautiful / stop reaching for the light / you will never be tall enough /
how can you be so mad / when you should be grateful / we don’t
call you a dickless fat fuck anymore / it took you four years /
to get a writing degree / just so you could bitch and moan /
about your genetic pussy / your book is all lies and fabrications /
it doesn’t have to be like this / quit victimizing yourself / you’re just soft /
you know while you were trying to be a “neon” “hollywood”
“cowboy” / the bad men were erasing your brothers and sisters /
look i love you / and i’m proud of all that you’ve accomplished /
but matthew david i swear / if the garden of eden fell
right into your lap / you’d probably fuck around and wound it
MATT MITCHELL is an intersex Northern Appalachian writer living in Columbus, Ohio. He wrote The Neon Hollywood Cowboy (Big Lucks, 2021) and tweets @matt_mitchell48.