Richelle Slota
My Mind's a Huge Beast Badly Ridden
My mind’s a huge beast badly ridden.
Enlightenment’s heavily buzzed.
My headache it pounds and it quickens.
I saddle old King Kong unbidden,
Dimwitted and sorry I was.
My mind’s a huge beast badly ridden.
Godzilla, he tangos in sequins.
The mind fuckers ball comes a-fuzz.
My headache it pounds and it quickens.
Cannot even wrestle a kitten.
The pain now shoots through like a gun.
My mind’s a huge beast badly ridden.
There’s wars in my head, I’m bedridden.
Whole armies of zombies want drugs.
My headache it pounds and it quickens.
Yet every relief only sickens,
And the herd starts stampeding in floods.
My mind’s all these beasts badly ridden.
My headaches, they pound and they quicken.
Trans Sapphics
Bogus gender—sentenced for life, I busted
Out, now free and joyfully seeking prowess,
Inhale all that’s radiant, calm as heaven—
Hell, thus eluded.
Gently, gently, estrogen tilts the table—
Gender billiards. Estrogen spreads as balls break,
Pop, bump, scatter over a felt green, dropping—
Females in pockets.
Scared, I woke mid surgery. Fussy surgeon.
Heard his cold, sharp talk, felt hand tug inside me,
Poking heart, so frightening—joyful, joyful—
Breast form implanted.
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| AUTHOR BIO |
| Richelle Lee Slota (formerly known as Richard) is the author of the poetry chapbook, Famous Michael, a novel, Stray Son, and a non-fiction book, Captive Market: Commercial Kidnapping Stories from Nigeria. Her poems have appeared in such publications as Caveat Lector, Quercus, Rogue Agent, Pratik, One Act, Blue Buildings, engine(idling, Yellow Mama, and Yellow Silk. She lives in San Francisco. She is a Meter Mentor to women learning meter on Annie Finch’s online community, Poetry Witchery Community. She is an Army vet. Her first poetry collection, Letters to My Dead Name, is forthcoming in 2024 from Blue Cedar Press. |
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| POETRY CONTRIBUTORS |
 Grace Bauer
Hilary Biehl
Carol Lynn Stevenson Grellas
Julia Griffin
A. A. Gunther
Katie Hartsock
Ruth Hoberman
Babo Kamel
Jean L. Kreiling
Lavinia Kumar
Jenna Le
Marjorie Maddox
Mary Grace Mangano
Kathleen McClung
Angela Alaimo O'Donnell
T. R. Poulson
Richelle Slota
Linda Stern
Myrna Stone
Gail White
Amanda Williamsen
Joyce Wilson
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| Anna Lee Hafer is a studio artist based in the Philadelphia area whose work is heavily influenced by such famous surrealist painters as René Magritte, Salvador Dali, and Pablo Picasso, all of whom strove to build their own realities through small glimpses into a particularly confusing, but utterly unique worldview that dictates its own specific set of instructions. With references to the laws and physics of Alice's Wonderland, the artist challenges the audience's inherent understanding of perspective, reality, and universal order.
In her work, Hafer pours and layers paint to create dimension and texture, mixing different styles and colors onto each other until they produce a 3D effect. Through marker and pencil that create shadow, she further enhances these forms and separates them from the background. Heavier layers and thicker brushstrokes in the foreground of her work push the painting toward the viewer, whereas the thinner layers and small brushstrokes in the background, elongate the space and push away from the viewer. By juxtaposing interior and exterior elements, Hafer makes the audience question whether they are looking at something inside or outside.
For additional information, please visit www.hafer.work.
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