Shirley Temple

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xoxothepoet/

Shirley Temple – 8/24/18

A is for animal crackers in my Alphabet Soup.

It also stands for:

All the letters cannot be used.

B is for...

Okay look...

B is for bad planning

Because there are 26 letters in the alphabet

And right now I’m only 25.

C is for counting

Because what happens when 27 creeps up on my shoulders?

It’s not 30, I can’t be 29 forever.

C is also for sheep.

The ones I never counted

When I walked back from one thousand to get to sleep.

D is for daddio.

Papa doe.

Daring. Dashing. And Dapper.

Wearing suits straight out of magazines

Making every other kid jealous that their dad wasn’t that cool...

Or annoying.

D is also for dynasty.

Or rather legacy.

Or more like ancestry.

And may I never forget where I came from.

E is for exhausted.

I’m five letters in

And if you’d like to see the exit

Follow the emergency lights at your feet.

F is for Finn.

Like a dolphin.

Shark’s fin.

Aodfin.

For being mine twice

And for so long after

I am always here

Sending you stuffies

Don’t forget to write

Or call

Put me on your speed dial

G is for Grace

Amazing Grace

Viola Grace

Grace with a C

My Gracie Lew Who

My gloriously gorgeous girlfriends

Who have shaped me more than they knew

H is for...

Hannah

And hell in a hand basket

For he who will never be mentioned

And Harry Potter

For my lack of fists fights

My plethora of harsh words

But my comfortable hugs after

I is for I

For me

For hello I’m queer and I’m here

And you’re not stopping me today

Oh no

Not today

I’m on my way

I’m Dr. Seuss at this rate

Give me a book deal I’m rolling

J is for Jade

Like the gemstone

My middle name

My bisyllabic middle beginning

The only thing ET could pronounce right at Disney World

My sparkling shining J

With its loops and curves and...

K is for Kimberly and Kent

My parents

My...

Tough love

Work hard

Get your shit done parents

Who split at age 10

And finalized it after 11

More years

They did what they planned really

And I don’t blame them

L is for love.

An unconditional lather of lavender soap bubbles from laughter

For Brooke with an E from Seattle

Blowing bubbles wands in traffic jams

And men picking fights

With a woman they wouldn’t have a chance with...

I mean against.

M is for...

Did you know in 2015 they said I could marry?

The queers cried happy tears that day.

N is for the n word

The negro

The night sky

Carrying us home

Follow the drinking gourd they say

Follow the drinking gourd.

O is for optimism

My forever the extroverted optimist outlook

Somehow hiding around the corners of my mind

Ostracizing itself from my overall outrageous outgoing state of be

P is for

Personally I will not get offended if you walk out those doors

But you’ve made it this far

I promise there’s only a little more

Q is for quilts

The ones etched in my memories

The ones I clutched so dearly

Crafted by my great grandmothers fingers

Her love sewn into each and every stitch

R is for rainbow

By Jessie J

For Radioactive

Relient K

OneRepublic

Lana del Ray

S is for Sister

10 years

10 months

1 day

14 hours

And 14 minutes

My sister

Older

Wiser

But I’m funnier

S is for the brother I gained

And the children I will always adore

S is also for my SDG

The one my heart first yearned for

Late night talks

And agreeing to disagree

90 percent of the time

T is for tyranny

For big heads

And little arms

Am I talking about people?

Or dinosaurs?

That’s up to U

For U.

For remember when chat speak was popular

And we didn’t use our ultimately untimely interruptions of

You’re and your.

Their there they’re, my friends.

It was once characteristic

Wut up?

U there?

I’ll brb my pos

Jk I’ll ttyl

There’s the dial tone

Ring ring ring

Guess who’s on the phone?

I hope y’all are old enough to remember

Euphorically engaging in chat logs with friends

Back when Dial Up was the only thing in your @ mentions

V.

Like violets

Geraniums

And the chrysanthemum I had tattooed on my back.

For vivacious and vivid

For verily merely dancing down sidewalks and side streets

W.

11:11

For when I whimsically wish for my wicked wretched weakness in my limbs to go away.

For everything to be okay.

But before you begin whining while your eyes are wilting

X.

Marks the spot.

Goonies never say die.

Treasure Planet

And Atlantis.

Y.

As in, I’ve lied. 25 is too damn close to 26 and I enjoy yearning for the end.

Z is for thank you.

For the zany adventure.

The black and white zebras.

The white and black zebras.

And everything read all over.

Now you know my ABCs. The ones that make up me. Let’s go again, shall we?

Geronimo and Allons-y.