Freesia Mckee

AT THE INAUGURAL MEETING
OF THE DIVINE SAVIOR HOLY ANGELS
GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCE

voice wet with shame, you birthed yourself
through your throat in a closet of lemons

sixteen thin muscles stretched close: see
girls gulping peach air laden with lemons

in a clean-clothed drowning from wrong-
thirsted rejection, we drink the sugared juice of lemons

even underwater, the eyelid stays focused, counting
each of its own like a child with lemons

thank you again for second times
steadily; i’m peeling softly the stories of lemons

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Freesia Mckee is a feminist from the Midwest who has worked as a gardener, a writing tutor, and a teacher. She will soon graduate from Warren Wilson College.