As the Beautiful Boy Pens Girl

after Germaine Greer

I am simply unshaven–you lapping up each sand-strung
curl: the night, a bowl to scrape clean.

A tongue twisted out from under me
to shape-shift, another seeking to bare my cheek.
I emptied lighters with my ire. I stripped alone
after feeding my fingers to the distended jowls of
a mother. Everyday, I watch you
deflate with more flesh and circle
the flame:

bloodied prints tucked against
our fists knocked up with silk which
fluttered across our bodies
as hinges to
twilight demure.

Here, I’ve shuffled our missteps into a light-footed draft.
Don’t neglect
these shapes we massage into
pictorial violence.

By Alexa Theofanidis

Biography:

Alexa Theofanidis attends St. John’s School in Houston, Texas, where she is the co-Editor-in-Chief of the literary magazine Imagination. She is also the recipient of two regional gold keys and one silver key from the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.