∞
i wonder what stories this mango tree has seen
[from the dirt beneath its shade
black bodies break earth,
bud, ripen,
wilt ….
]
what secrets of a boy and
a girl
and a girl
and a girl
only it knows
what shedding
of
childhood
only it has
witnessed
how many wind-whispers has its
leaves softened
a boy learned
a body can deflower and flower
and flower
and flower
all before the first ripe mango bursts
that he can burst
that boys can smell like
flowers too
that the rose petals of
another boy’s lips can
undo him
that masculinity is fluid
drip
drip
drip
from
his lips
– ripened starch mango juices
[can stain a boy’s
white shirt]
a boy is only as fluid
as the spring
water by mr.
marble’s home
a girl too learns
girls aren’t sunflowers
because
they
smell
pretty
and rose petal bodies
don’t always want to be handled
gently
and she learns the meaning of the word
adroit
/
dexterous/vers/straightgirlspaghetti
that gender is dirt
water-logged with July-rain
a girl is only as queer
as the spring
in her
grandmother’s
mattress
and we trust the mango tree to keep these
secret.
∞
D.S. Harrigin-Ramoutar is a queer Afro-Trinidadian creative, studying Aerospace Engineering in South Florida.