The louder we shout, the faster we rise
We all grew lavender skin
passed between bathroom stalls,
stalks drinking life from cocktails
sliding over lilac bars.
We left buds in our wake
scented like slumber.
We were always awake:
sequined with dawn
platforms reflecting puddles we crossed
with every sweaty transgression.
In packs, in herds, in flocks
of sunset splendor we come.
Lavender means more than sleep--
essential in more ways than you can count
it grows in our hearts
in wrinkles caked with glitter.
When the streets are full,
bars empty,
We spread our lavender wings
—hidden too long under binders
& blazers flecked neon—
we fly in formation
Not leaving, never fleeing
but filling the sky
An arc of bodies
uninvisible, indivisible
louder than thunder & brighter
than dawn.
When the rain comes,
put your umbrellas away.
Purple petals fall
adorning your hair
blessing your lips
& welcoming you
to spread your own enduring wings
& join us high up
in the rainbow sky.
About the author: Marisca Pichette is a queer author based in Massachusetts, on Pocumtuck and Abenaki land. Her work has appeared in Room Magazine, Flash Fiction Online, Necessary Fiction, and Plenitude Magazine, among others. She is the winner of the 2022 F(r)iction Spring Literary Contest and has been nominated for the Best of the Net, Pushcart, Utopia, and Dwarf Stars awards. Their debut poetry collection, Rivers in Your Skin, Sirens in Your Hair, is out now from Android Press.
Connect with them on Twitter, Instagram, and BlueSky, and see more of their work on their website.