patron saint of pink, of girlness
of no leather, all lace, calls all of us sisters
by girlness, she means any definition
sweet goddess of solidarity
o, the times they could’ve turned you cold
the refused muffin basket peace treaty, the party invite turned back stab
you could have built walls, black armored, sharp tongued
we all would’ve forgiven you, cheered for you anyway
o, beautiful unbreakable spirit
vogue magazine bible swear loyalty, solemn pinky promise
every lsat practice test is an homage to your legacy
every pencil skirt with pockets
every perm i talk myself out of
every half-gym-jog-halfstudy-session i talk myself into
muse of my 6am alarm and green tea with honey
the older sister i wish i had, the one i try to be
goddess of playboy bunnies and case law
beauty, grace, has punched at least one man in the face
did not make herself less smart, or pretty
did not make herself less anything
i tap into the spot in my chest you live to not respond to his text
i trust that everything will work out in time for the credits
queen of choosing loyalty and herself first
queen of platonic girlfriends
teach the bend and snap to everyone
all girls are friends, even when they prove to you they are not
you are always ready to be hurt again, and let yourself be hurt again
you always get back up, somehow softer
never swallow your own ambition
never letting them decide your narrative
they wanted you to grow shark teeth, you plant roses
let them bloom, but kept the thorns on.
M/Em Amory (they/them) is, like glitter, an intangible light effect made physical, mostly plastic, and often from New Jersey. Their work has recently been published with Ink & Nebula and Crooked Arrow Press, among others. They can be found on twitter @queerparalethal or instagram @paralethalleftist or, in real life, under a pile of blankets watching The People v. O.J. Simpson again with their two cats, both scorpios.