smoke signals
Updated: Mar 28
A ball is, the very word, whatever you want to be, you be.
In a ballroom, you can be anything you want.
— Paris is Burning, 1990
1.
the childhood bedroom won’t recognize me
anymore. two truths and a lie: my body used to be
a history of fear. i’ve forged the ownership papers
to this life too many times to count. i’ve lied
enough in my life. truth and truth again, the first time i went
to the gay club was in itaewon during a summer that cracked
open like a yolk—our shadows running golden