skilled trade

monthly we submit

to butch-barber

praise

hair confetti flicked

from their clipper’s

silver fingers

        

lunch-date-butch

studies noodle counter

picture menu

my eyes taste butch-

hips squared under

their pressed chinos

later my butch-

lips graze their fade’s fresh prickle

        

your butch i

kneel to pump

your tire to pet

your dog to rub

your feet

        

morning butch

grins over the sink

rakes the blade

from jaw to chin

        

my fingers slot quarters

into the basement coin-op

soon my outsides butch

in the washed goldenrod jacket

        

stone & not stone, butch-lovers flower

flame-yellow tops

on limber green stalks

        

slick & poked, magazines appear

in the mail slot

how butch-

lover appears in your dreams

        

under silver fringe at nowhere

butches grope & sway to disco

get hit on by boys too

        

how our dead suffered?

at the celebration of life we

read erotica minnie wrote

about sucking butch-

fingers when living

        

you make me butch

when you take my hand

to ask for more

ask again

        

handsome today, butch-

boyfriend in the slim silver

mirror says to us

hair mussed

        

my butch-body an archive of my raptures

        

sports bra tugged up & off, my hands on your chest

a bird’s wings at rest

        

butch lean back

fold your arms behind your head to stretch

as if you could take off