[The southern California poet Gail Wronsky writes with pride (and
pleasure and dignity) about her child who no longer passes as a binary
daughter. ] [[link removed]]

PORTSIDE CULTURE

A NON-BINARY PERSON WALKED BY  
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Gail Wronsky
December 1, 2019
Pedestal
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_ The southern California poet Gail Wronsky writes with pride (and
pleasure and dignity) about her child who no longer passes as a binary
daughter. _

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A NON-BINARY PERSON WALKED BY

                                   
_for Marlena Dalí_

BY GAIL Wronsky

And I thought of my daughter, I mean my _child_.  And of my breasts,

which protrude in a superfluous fashion, and of my make-up,

mask of an aging drag queen.  And I felt ridiculously out-of-touch.

A woman gets tired of impersonating a woman, like keeping the

front porch clean for the drivers-by. Why not write a book instead? 

Why not tattoo Fuck the Gender-Cops on your knuckles?

 

I asked my child what should be done with my jewelry when I die

and they said _I still like jewelry, _and something inside me as
primitive

as putting flowers on a grave felt gratified.  I can die now, I
thought,

and all the ways I tried to make them conform to femininity, may they

die with me.  I’m sorry, darling, that I wrapped you up in all that
soft

pink fairy shit, that tulle, for your _quinceañerx._ 

Gail Wronsky is the author, coauthor, or translator of thirteen books
of poetry and prose, among them _Dying for Beauty _(Copper Canyon),
_Poems for Infidels_ (Red Hen), and _Imperfect Pastorals _(What
Books).  Her translation of Alicia Partnoy’s book _Fuegos Florales
(Flowering Fires) _recently won the American Book Prize from
Settlement House Press. _  _ She is currently working on an
art/poetry project with chicanx artist Gronk.

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