Odile, by Joey Belonger

an understudy is a transgression

it occurs / imitation

distaff counterpart

which exists for red playbills

witchblack plumes of tutu / tool

virtue in a corkscrew

can it compete with a map of Tasmania

funhouse mirror neck s-curves

will eventually make a circle

the doctor promises me

a quarter of swans are gay /

how many are like me

storkwhite & barren wings

beholden to Woman

I can never / should never

Joey Belonger is a queer transfeminine writer, educator, and printmaker from Chicago, IL. They currently live in Iowa City, where they are a poetry MFA candidate at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Previous work has appeared in Black Warrior Review, Cleaver, Storyscape, The Cardiff Review, and elsewhere. Follow them on twitter @JoebyElonger