this is what fucking her looks like

YVES B. GOLDEN

fold over fold history-pressed
paper thin bones, ligaments
truth-debris in bed
cradling arching pages pages pages

of the studious cotton

questioning answers
spit and vapor
ingesting nail clippings

imperial cotton
starched to blade
heating legs v‘d below the chin

sirens licking runny fog
chilly enamel cabinets
waist high music made with knuckles and spirits

scorch marks in the bathroom mirror

vertebrae support the room
hold the house together
on purpose.

Bubble gum

YVES B. GOLDEN

Audio: Yves B. Golden reads.

paper sometimes
is an anti-hero lurking around my bed, in solutions
like all the
unfinished dreams unlicked

dampening beneath my wrapper
the smell of candied crane flower, so loud it's sickening
inside me a birth occurs in various drippy constellations

pussy is not just negative space, there is atmosphere
and the potential for growth
it sleeps
it dreams even

come closer

the fire in my water is quelled with curiosity, metal, sometimes other flesh, silicone, wood

everything that means me harm

everything that wants to eat its way out of me
never spoke to my
potential

only to the cellophane.

Yves B. Golden is a multidisciplinary artist, writer, DJ, and organizer. Her work explores visibility, dignity, and the sacred bond that exists between memory and physical objects. In May 2020, Yves co-founded the Herbal Mutual Aid Network - an expanding non-profit initiative working to bring care and resources to Black, Trans, Indigenous, and Disabled Individuals.

Originally published May 2022 in poiesis 3.1 by w the trees.