I have always felt
Feminine coded
In the ways my heart
Seeking rapture
Pursues empathy
Bound by creation
That’s misunderstood
Being male

With radical love
Over bankrolls
Outside what bounds
Bear restrictions
Through paling dreams
Needing neon
Or pink splatter dye
Where they dull

From stifling words
Playing roles
Writing empty books
Praying poets
Would form each phrase
Around softness
Still nurturing truth
Better said

Than obscuring life
Growing split
While pretending
Sex barely matters
Though all birth itself
Mirrors liturgies
Of an artist’s brush
Drawing fruit

After faithless dreams
Are the norm
How compliant souls
Crave expression
Against work-filled days
Missing mothers
Like their fathers learned
Losing voice

But reminded now
There is warmth
Brushing hands
Against heaven’s glitter
Meaning angels
Dressing as muses
Reveal secrets
To those who agree.

• J. Pigno