CW: Alludes to domestic violence, sexually suggestive

every sob story 

begins with a cat 

                                           tossed into the wild 

                                           bushfire of a digital 

                                           landscape, the paradise

                                           of a queer dating app      

       viral with vampires 

       & ghosts, the washboard 

       six pack of a headless troll, 

       frog-throated goblins, gremlins, toads.

i’m not sure 

                    where he begins

& i end, his fangs

                                                                 d

                                                                 o

                                                                 t

                                                                 t

                                                                 e

                                                                 d

                                          against my neck, 

                                     the orphaned beads

                                      of a broken rosary. 

dear future 

partner, i’m heading back

to the garden, hands full 

of baggage, wrists cuffed 

by a catholic

             cross / what?

                i’m edgy   

serrated as darkness

when it crests

the reptilian eye 

of the moon 

                                                  watch out!

before he tells you 

i’m drama, waltzing 

into his eden

with an attitude.

      the pomegranates

              corseted in yellow

                                jackets & bees

                 splashes of blood, rot, honey.

Note: In Digimon Adventure, Gatomon was introduced as a villain. She was groomed and tortured by the antagonist, Myotismon. This poem imagines the in-between period where she transitioned from villain to hero.

Michael Russell (he/they) is the author of chapbook Grindr Opera (Frog Hollow Press). He’s queer, has BPD, Bipolar Disorder and way too much anxiety. His work has appeared in Arc Poetry Magazine, Heavy Feather Review, SICK Magazine among other places. He lives in Toronto and thinks you’re fantabulous. Insta: @michael.russell.poet