Tell Mama
by S Pierrot Langland
Passing Hwy 22 & 231
& 280 & the delta
& other honorary highways
to this & to that & exits
to this old building & that
ancient mound
she was wearing
a white T
with Protect Trans Youth
in black lettering
along with one of those
all-in-1 gender logos
making up the O in Youth
& there’s even a little fist
in the midst of the logo
but the thing was
when she finally got
to where her family
was waiting for her
& they hadn’t seen her
in months you see
& so when she did arrive
her hair fell down
in an accidental way
covering up
the words
about protecting
trans youth
but she didn’t change
when she got home
& she didn’t change
when she stopped
for gas or slim jims
which she usually would
& so when she arrived
to her parent’s place
with her painted black nails
& rings & a necklace
made out of a single green penny
minted in ‘92
her family said nothing
but it was that type of nothing
that’s not a good type of nothing
like oh its nothing
or it ain’t no thing
or yeah we know, it’s nothing
don’t worry about it
it was that type of silence
which seems to imply
something & after a day
of not changing anything
her mama asks her
when it’s just the two of them
upstairs in the living room
You gonna tell me something?
S Pierrot Langland is a queer, trans poet who grew up in Alabama. Having lived and taught all over their home state, they now reside in the comparatively mountainous Fayetteville as an MFA candidate in poetry at the University of Arkansas. Their poetry has appeared, or is forthcoming, in the minnesota review, RHINO Poetry, Best New Poets 2018, Measure Review, Waccamaw, Bayou Magazine, Beyond Queer Words, and Poetry South among others. When they are not teaching or writing, they are most likely watching PBS.
