LOUDSPEAKER:: Poetry by Emily Morgan

WUSSY is proud to present poetry by Emily Morgan.
If you would like to send in a writing submission, please contact Nicholas Goodly. 

The Trampoline
Hayden, Al

And with the blessings of my mother,
We raced into the sticky air under the Alabama
Stars.
Hoisting ourselves up onto the
Enveloping black-hole of the
Trampoline.

Our shrill adolescent laughter interrupted
The drown of southern summer
Cicadas.
Time passed quickly and quietly
Under the navy velvet
Night.

An old friend and I, vexing in and out of
The still film of
Mid-air.
Jumping to disturb the
Ocean storms brewing in our
Stomachs.

But as the clock ticked,
Our amusement turned into
fear.
Our ears worked
More quickly than the abilities of our
Eyes.

Darkness and time
Argued while we were caught in the
Vortex.
The clam that cannot bury itself
Between the ocean and the
Shore.

And the eeriness set in as we glimpsed into
The uneasiness of
Adulthood.
Let’s go back, I’m scared
She panicked, tears held back from her
Face.

But the ugly toads chuckled at our cowardice as
We tiptoed into the yellow warm light of my
Home.
Careful not to awake
Around us the brutal
Battle.

Emily Morgan is a lesbian from the small town of Hayden, Alabama. She is currently graduating from The University of Alabama with a degree in art history, and plans to center my graduate research around gender and sexuality, especially in the American South. Growing up queer in the rural South has made representation especially impactful, and through her own art and writing, as well as academic search, she hopes to help elevate LGBTQIA+ representation in the southern United States.