KarMel
Scholarship 2008
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Poem “Housecat” By Jessica McGlew |
Desciption of Submission: “A poem describing
my earliest experiences as a bisexual individual between the ages of 5-7. It
explores the natural quality of early loves and the openness and tolerance that
is often present in children or opened minds and hearts.” – Jessica
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I married Roman in the
sand box, small hands clasping the
swing-set and a small assembly of
girls, fists smeared with clots of dirt for nosegays. My ring glittered
amethyst, his grandmother’s and we kissed our first
kiss, sealing our kindergarten romance for
at least two years, until a tear-stained fight for nothing. First-grade passed slowly,
an exchange of boots and coloring
books, my teacher scared me. Elle sat nearby, her hair deep brown and stealing softness from fallen leaves. In gym class she held my
feet for sit-ups, we counted sweetly, one kiss, two kiss, three kiss four…
our tight lips brushed each other 50 times every Wednesday. Roman didn’t mind, or he
didn’t know. The gym teacher scolded us
for being “unhygienic,” stalking
over to us angrily in Umbro shorts, muscles bulging beneath nylon. We laughed and made new
games for kissing, sealing our bonds for at
least two years, until she moved away from our back of the forest school. Un-phased, I was young and
full of piles of pine needles that
covered gnarled tree roots, big enough to
sit under and play house. I was always the housecat, mewling alone and winding around the
husband-and-wife’s feet. I crawled in through the pet-door without my boy or girl. I kissed them both, knew them without difference. |