If you turn
your attention
to the Mississippi
river, you’ll see
the closeted
nonbinary
kid walking
down the dirt path.
Their brother’s
red hand-me-down
sweatshirt can be
seen all the way
from Neptune.
They are mesmerized
by Orion’s Belt.
The shimmering
indigo spheres
reflect in their eyes.
For a moment
they feel whole.
I’m trans
almost trips
their mouth.
They hear
a loon nearby
and worry she
might tell someone
Notice how
hard they try
to carve out
some bravery.
Notice how
desperately they
cling to the soil.
Everyone come
witness the
scientific
discovery.
Look at the child
trembling under
moonlight.
Look at
the child
adorned
in a suit made
of stitched
together stars.
Rubin Hardin is a poet who adores magical realism. They founded a literary journal dedicated to non-speaking and semi-speaking disabled artists called Explicit Literary Journal. They have work published in Rising Phoenix Review, What Are Birds, Runestone, Crab Fat Magazine, Voicemail Poems, Can’t Somebody Fix What Ails Me, and Iris Literary Journal. Rubin has upcoming work in Utterance. Their favorite bird is a dragon.
Snarl 