I can thank this idea as it leaves
my body.
I have carried this story, named and fed it,
though it did not survive.
I name its absence now: shape of shoulders,
bed of breasts, sleeping breaths.
Child or man or poem.
Julietta Bekker (she/they) is a writer, educator and illustrator who lives with her family in Portland, Oregon. Her poetry has been published by Pile Press, Bitter Melon Review, 7th-Circle Pyrite, Seedlings, Querencia Press and Oyster River Pages, and is forthcoming from The Dread Literary, Gather, and The Inflectionist Review. Her work incorporates elements of the natural world to explore political and social themes through the lens of a queer parent.
