gayblood

“Gay Blood”

I’m just not dateable, I think, ashing
the cigarette again on the wood steps.
The wine is on its last Mason jar-full
and you think, Was I born bitter?
And I think, Will I ever not be afraid?

You won’t be able to donate today, she said
after an hour of computer questionnaires,
needle pricks, awkward smiles at a nurse
with color-changing nail polish. Rubbing
furiously she shows me purple morph
to purple-red.

Queer Fear, I say back in the car, sipping
an iced tea. She did look sorry, digging for
the lame brochure and typing my answers
in her computer—unviable, yes.
Undateable, yes.

*

Jack Meriwether is a visual artist and poet from the Midwest. He studied theater in college but isn’t super into musicals. Jack’s work is interested in the mysteries of being a middle child, his quarter-life crises, and Gay Pain™. He’s currently working on finishing his first manuscript of poems. 

website: jackmeriwether.com | instagram: @jack.meriwether | twitter: @jackmeriwether