After Kay Sage
We begin with the myth of potential, end with a horizon
of blank canvases stretching into infinity.
I’ve done what was asked of me, and lost interest in everything
that boasts a beginning and end, a discernible form.
Sometimes I close my eyes and imagine a swarm
of pastel suits and pretty bonnets spilling over
green lawns, laughter overflowing
like champagne as my studio goes dark and I slip
into a private, perpetual Easter. The opposite of beauty
is not what people think, even beautiful people
know an ugly duckling when they see one.
In the hunt for pleasure, I’m a wild card, a candied razor,
a master eraser. I don’t want them to find me, but I do
want them to try, the way the mind tries
to fathom the vastness of oceans and stars—
hopelessly, ad infinitum. If they find me, it’s game over:
that’s why I never put all of my eggs in one
casket, all my pills in one drawer.
Adrian Silbernagel (he/him) is a queer, transgender writer, blogger, educator, and
coffee shop manager who is based in Louisville, KY. His first book of poetry,
Transitional Object, was published in 2019 with The Operating System.
Visit Adrian’s website to learn more about his work: adriansilbernagel.com
Featured Image: Untitled by Carla Hernández Ramírez