Ellie Lamothe: Unholy Altars
Photo: Joanna C. Valente
liminal
you are not sure how to comfortably claim queerness
or navigate
the jagged spaces you occupy
when you so willingly kneel to expectations
how to feel worthy of this revolution
when you have inherited an intimate language
that offers itself
to unholy altars
where does reclamation of identity end
and annihilation begin?
You make your mouth a shrine
to the wilderness of him
blood vessels bloom
under his hand
does it matter what kind of bodies you could love
with the heat of yours
when his cum is in your hair?
who will know?
who will attest?
who will deem you worthy?
Ellie Lamothe is a Sociology student, activist, and poet living in K’jipuktuk (Halifax, NS). She's passionate about feminism and collective healing, and is the founder of Laurels & Bells Literary Journal. Her work has appeared in Glass: A Journal of Poetry (Poets Resist) and is forthcoming in Kissing Dynamite, Riza Press, andConstellations: A Journal of Poetry and Fiction. You can follow her on Instagram @ellielamothe and Twitter @laurelsandbells.
