Sequin-Stetted Teeth by Oak Morse

You say you rock razor blade shades,

strut under stadium lights. Like you’re

secure. Pop a bottle of exoneration, 

free yourself of the punk & pussy childhood 

foes pinned on you because they were 

childhood foes. Wheel out your intestines

& strangle the remembering. Begin 

the unbecoming, purge the painful & 

coat yourself in bravery. Walk through 

a wasp wonderland wearing only this code.

Glutton your mouth with gold nuggets, 

your words audacious, strike back. You

crack open like a coconut & leak 

blood & leave the teary lad behind the one 

with scary fist & vague aura. Today, 

you smear armor oil across your chest 

& let the dirty memories muster you. 

Let a pistol bloom under your tongue.

Oak Morse lives in Houston, Texas, where he teaches creative writing and theatre A Warren Wilson MFA graduate, Oak has received fellowships from Brooklyn Poets and Cave Canem’s Starshine and Clay. His work appears in Black Warrior Review, Obsidian, Tupelo, Southern Indiana Review, Tinderbox, Iron Horse Literary Review, Hampden-Sydney Review, among others.

12 April 2024