Poison Oak

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Choice

The world snaps shut behind you.
In front, your mother.

She is one lifetime younger,
seated on the sofa you remember.

The window light does not know
if its sun rises or sets.

The night between her thighs asks a question.
Answers come in ones.

Her left hand holds her belly,
her right holds a mirror.

Now, sit beside her,
scoop her palms into a cup,

pour you face of stars and stones,
let her see the decades she will bear.

May this time you be a choice.

Poison Oak (she/her) is a poet and drag artist based in Queens, New York. She writes from various personas and pulls from themes such as nature, history, love, and loss. Structurally, she employs nonce forms in the New Formalist tradition. Her poetry is performed live across New York at drag shows and private events. She has also been published in journals such as Door is a Jar Magazine and the Nassau Review. She is the host of New York City’s only drag poetry show in which she combines poetry with performance art. Connect with her via her website at PoisonOak.NYC