by Trinity Richardson
Heretic Genesis
I have always feared birth—
blasphemous something-from-nothing,
soft head pushed through torn skin,
the widening, the splitting
for the sake of another
because it’s different when they’re yours
as if the ownership makes the difference
My father choked my mother when she was pregnant with me,
or gently placed his hands around her neck,
or did absolutely nothing at all
depending on the day
I carry him with me—
I am a liar,
a mirror held up to the world around me
I am 9 years old
pressing pelvic bone
to sunbaked upholstery of minivan armrest
on the way home
from the swimming pool
because I can
because the ache never stops even though
I place my hands carefully and
never blaspheme except
when pressed
And even then
it’s minor things
like thinking my dreams can predict the future or
loving my mom a little too much or
thinking about sex in church
Though I’m not sure if that last one counts
since the creating
is self-contained,
hands folded
in prayer
Poet Trinity Richardson (they/them) is a non-binary poet and changeling raising an evil cat. They are an editor for West Trade Review and social media manager for Adroit Journal. Their poems can be found in Funicular, Vagabond City Lit, and more. Outside of writing their interests include vintage clown dolls, Magic, magic, claw machines, stories with ambiguous endings, and the fly from Breaking Bad. You can find them on LinkedIn and at trinityrichardson.com.
Artist Serge Lecomte (he/him) was born in Belgium in 1946. He came to the States where he spent his teens in South Philly and then Brooklyn. After graduating from Tilden H. S. he joined the Medical Corps in the Air Force. He earned an MA and Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University in Russian Literature with a minor in French Literature. He worked as a Green Beret language instructor at Fort Bragg, NC from 1975-78. In 1988 he received a B.A. from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in Spanish Literature. He worked as a language teacher at the University of Alaska (1978-1997). He worked as a house builder, pipe-fitter, orderly in a hospital, gardener, landscaper, driller for an assaying company, bartender and painter. You can find more of his work on his website: https://sergelecomte.weebly.co/.
Gulf Stream Magazine 