what lesbian porn has done for me

After Donika Kelly & Vievee Francis

the women, small and neat,
top each other like
slices of wonder bread.

when she and i
finally meet,
we knead each other—

fresh dough—
adjusting our
rehearsed finger-tread.

outside, magnolias
cup their sepals
like good hands.

inside, we spade
like leaves: tenderly,
and only at each other’s bidding.

when my sister
stopped speaking to me,
what she wanted

was for my body
to stop speaking.

now look: i fold what suits
me in the loaf of my thighs.

i am learning
how to call my

self, how to put my mouth
on whatever i like.

Notes:

Audio poem performed by the author.

Source: Poetry (November 2023)