If I should die tonight, get the sex toys
from under my bed, so my mother never
sees them. Give the silver cock to Miriam
—she told me it was the perfect size.
Overnight the butt plug to a bodega
in Brooklyn. Someone will come for it.
Send a telegram to Megan
in Stockholm that says,
“I wish I had kissed you” in Swedish.
Tell my roommate to take my coupons
for CVS. They’re in the wicker Ikea basket.
Give my entire wardrobe to Al Miner.
We’re almost exactly the same size,
save the size 9 shoes for Mom.
Donate my boxes of cheerleading and dance
trophies, gymnastics ribbons and medals,
to a local gay bar. Use them as awards
for a drag ball in my honor, with categories
like Rutgers-University-New-Jersey-Feminist
Realness. Have Jennie Livingston film it.
Login to my gmail. Send the email
I’ve written to Evie containing
my last poems. Ask for her address, send her
all my poems. Tell her to title my manuscript
after her favorite street in Paris.
Give my college degree to a kid
in Southeast. Put the rest of my shit
on the sidewalk and make
Tawa, my landlord, pay for the citation.
Tell Brian to release the original 2003
Mr. Spotswood Pageant script
before Miss Meyers edited it,
the one with the minuteman reference.
Make copies available at the Cambridge Inn.
Charge 50 cents to cover the cost of printing.
Tell Chris, he didn’t turn me gay
and that it was funny when he ate
a bowl of Cheerios for the high school
talent show. Tell Katrina, “It’s okay.”
I’d choose to play Mickey
over Minnie any day.
Bring the Eckman’s back to the
funeral home to prepare the service.
Make Brett dress me so he sees
what he missed when after my first kiss
he left to get back together with that blond bitch.
Melt down the penny I ate when I was four.
Use it as a setting for the diamond
Grandpa bought with his J & J pension.
Mom will be wearing this as you
scatter my ashes at Point Pleasant,
toss multi-colored glitter. Track it
onto the floor mats of your cars.
When you get the urge to vacuum it,
resist.
***
Danielle Evennou (photo by Dan Vera)
Danielle Evennou has served as board president of the DC women’s spokenword organization, mothertongue (now entering its 11th year!) coordinating/hosting regular spokenword events and projects. She also serves as a co-host for Sparkle: a queer-driven reading series for all, at Busboys & Poets in Washington, DC. Danielle was a featured reader at Queering Sound 2009, Capital Pride 2009, and Poetic Situations, as well as at Sparkle. Her poems have been published in Blue Collar Review and Objet d’Art and she has published an essay on U.S. Poet Laureate Kay Ryan in the Fall 2009 edition of Beltway Poetry Quarterly.
