TAKE ME TO THE TRANS SPA
where I can get my nails done
with my mom, without
toxic chemicals
let me change
in the locker room
soak in the jacuzzi tub
cool down in the pool
with a strawberry daiquiri
let me sweat in the sauna
& in the back room where
glory holes are filled
with fingers
let there be deep tissue
massages, drag bingo
on mondays, clothing
swaps on Tuesdays
let there be a hair salon
sliding scale electrolysis
& lavender shampoo
let there be eyeliner tutorials
tips on beard trimming
& preventing hair loss
let there be an abundance
of ferns, aloe plants for
soothing scars &
a weeping willow
outside our doors
let us be beautiful
on our own terms.
There Are Trans People Here by H. Melt is available from Haymarket Books, haymarketbooks.org.
THE RIOTS MUST CONTINUE
For my 29th birthday, I went to Philadelphia
where my grandparents met at Temple University
& my great aunt was a docent at the art museum
& my great grandmother lived by Rittenhouse Square
which I visit in the rain, walking under my
purple umbrella, pausing at the fountain
reading off my phone, Philly’s first
pride parade began right here
I walk a block to Dewey’s Diner
to visit my trancestors
who were denied service
& arrested here in 1965
my nana lived so close
she could’ve heard the protests
or waved to me from her window
as River snapped a picture of me
in front of the bronze plaque
where Dewey’s previously sat
now it is a construction site
most of my relatives are gone
but the marches & the sit-ins
& the riots must continue.