to Gehenna

Shon Mapp

fated, they say.

gavels
obliterate arbitrary organs.

but as girls, we had no knowledge
of the misery in visible happiness;
of what creatures lived lively behind locked doors.

we were foolhardy in front yards,
close talked, cupped round faces
with dirty hands. made demands
like, ‘meet me at the corner’
always now
with no thoughts
of forever that may never come.

heaven
was just some magic in the sky
and hell was staying indoors

on a hot summer day.

---

Shon Mapp is black queer writer with published poems in fourteen poems, Ghost Heart, and Kissing Dynamite. Her works typically explore kinship, queer intimacy, and multicultural identities. Instagram: @Shon.Mapp, Twitter: @ShonMapp, website: www.shonmapp.com.

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