"Oh Well" and "Banger" by Yves B. Golden

OH WELL

oh well

born

all wing and thrown voice

cicada why now?

discarded from yourself
a copy blood-eagled in squall

delivering your cross-bearing
through the borders of limerence

to touch
vestals to lictors?

forbidden.

who guides you here by hum
out of summer?

even if I learned

I couldn't know

BANGER

spoils

grimming afternoon

with many lemon seeded

drain guards.

spoiled

today’s wash again

slept through an earthquake

i’m sure tomorrow

is gonna be a banger

sequins

pocket change

line the fish cage

giving eye candy

it‘s a slay

looking past me

when the world blinks

the girls I know say

you’ve got it all

a face hinges wingspan

a tin foil safety net beneath you.

you are

a queen seed resisting arrest

everything is yours

to sneer at

-

Yves B Golden is a writer based in Los Angeles. Her recent collection of poems and lyric essays was published by Tabloid Press (DE) and La Esconcesa (ES). She is the Feminist Center for Creative Work's 2024 artist-in-residence.