Shirley Temple – 8/24/18 A is for animal crackers in my Alphabet Soup. It also stands for: All the letters cannot be used. B is for... Okay look... B is for bad planning Because there are 26 letters in the alphabet And right now I’m only 25. C is for counting Because what happens when 27 creeps up on my shoulders? It’s not 30, I can’t be 29 forever. C is also for sheep. The ones I never counted When I walked back from one thousand to get to sleep. D is for daddio. Papa doe. Daring. Dashing. And Dapper. Wearing suits straight out of magazines Making every other kid jealous that their dad wasn’t that cool... Or annoying. D is also for dynasty. Or rather legacy. Or more like ancestry. And may I never forget where I came from. E is for exhausted. I’m five letters in And if you’d like to see the exit Follow the emergency lights at your feet. F is for Finn. Like a dolphin. Shark’s fin. Aodfin. For being mine twice And for so long after I am always here Sending you stuffies Don’t forget to write Or call Put me on your speed dial G is for Grace Amazing Grace Viola Grace Grace with a C My Gracie Lew Who My gloriously gorgeous girlfriends Who have shaped me more than they knew H is for... Hannah And hell in a hand basket For he who will never be mentioned And Harry Potter For my lack of fists fights My plethora of harsh words But my comfortable hugs after I is for I For me For hello I’m queer and I’m here And you’re not stopping me today Oh no Not today I’m on my way I’m Dr. Seuss at this rate Give me a book deal I’m rolling J is for Jade Like the gemstone My middle name My bisyllabic middle beginning The only thing ET could pronounce right at Disney World My sparkling shining J With its loops and curves and... K is for Kimberly and Kent My parents My... Tough love Work hard Get your shit done parents Who split at age 10 And finalized it after 11 More years They did what they planned really And I don’t blame them L is for love. An unconditional lather of lavender soap bubbles from laughter For Brooke with an E from Seattle Blowing bubbles wands in traffic jams And men picking fights With a woman they wouldn’t have a chance with... I mean against. M is for... Did you know in 2015 they said I could marry? The queers cried happy tears that day. N is for the n word The negro The night sky Carrying us home Follow the drinking gourd they say Follow the drinking gourd. O is for optimism My forever the extroverted optimist outlook Somehow hiding around the corners of my mind Ostracizing itself from my overall outrageous outgoing state of be P is for Personally I will not get offended if you walk out those doors But you’ve made it this far I promise there’s only a little more Q is for quilts The ones etched in my memories The ones I clutched so dearly Crafted by my great grandmothers fingers Her love sewn into each and every stitch R is for rainbow By Jessie J For Radioactive Relient K OneRepublic Lana del Ray S is for Sister 10 years 10 months 1 day 14 hours And 14 minutes My sister Older Wiser But I’m funnier S is for the brother I gained And the children I will always adore S is also for my SDG The one my heart first yearned for Late night talks And agreeing to disagree 90 percent of the time T is for tyranny For big heads And little arms Am I talking about people? Or dinosaurs? That’s up to U For U. For remember when chat speak was popular And we didn’t use our ultimately untimely interruptions of You’re and your. Their there they’re, my friends. It was once characteristic Wut up? U there? I’ll brb my pos Jk I’ll ttyl There’s the dial tone Ring ring ring Guess who’s on the phone? I hope y’all are old enough to remember Euphorically engaging in chat logs with friends Back when Dial Up was the only thing in your @ mentions V. Like violets Geraniums And the chrysanthemum I had tattooed on my back. For vivacious and vivid For verily merely dancing down sidewalks and side streets W. 11:11 For when I whimsically wish for my wicked wretched weakness in my limbs to go away. For everything to be okay. But before you begin whining while your eyes are wilting X. Marks the spot. Goonies never say die. Treasure Planet And Atlantis. Y. As in, I’ve lied. 25 is too damn close to 26 and I enjoy yearning for the end. Z is for thank you. For the zany adventure. The black and white zebras. The white and black zebras. And everything read all over. Now you know my ABCs. The ones that make up me. Let’s go again, shall we? Geronimo and Allons-y.