Fathering

by Alec Prevett

I was born in
the same hospital
as my father Does that
 
            make me eligible
            to be a father
            Can the gender
            less father I can
 
                        crush the bulb
                        of a flower
                        until prematurely
                        its petals
 
shoot forth
like a hundred
violet limbs I say
genderless but mean
 
            genderful like how
            white is the whole
            spectrum at once I have
            asked my body what it
 
                        wants, offered
                        to plant a garden
                        in its chest, use
                        the ribs as a trellis
 
for the ivy, or
maybe grape
vines Oh, there’s
the purple
 
            again And really grow
            ain’t the same as birth
            My body is pink-limbed,
            does not respond
 
                        to queries, only chants
                        I will be phenomenal I will
                        be phenomenal I will be

Alec Prevett is a human pursuing an MFA in fiction from Georgia State University. Their recent work can be found in or is forthcoming from Booth, Five:2:One, Lammergeier, and several other wonderful places on the web. They live in Atlanta with Patches, their chubby, cuddly, calico cat. You can find more of their work at alecprevett.com

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