euphemism february
From the chapbook *Poems of Color*
peculiar is a fascinating word. the etymology
stems from the latin word “peculiaris”, which means
“of private property”.
the word – and the world – operates
as if it has forgotten that some people
were of private property.
i am waiting patiently for this 28-day window
(occupied partly by
valentine’s day & president’s day weekend)
the one month, the brief space
in which it is permissible to try to talk
about a certain
peculiar institution.
of private property. the phrase itself is euphemistic – a clever
obfuscation of the unspeakable violence entangled with
being of private property. a trick of the english language,
eternally veiling
the scene of the crime.
Willow Page Delp is a Jamaican-American student, writer, reader, book reviewer and feminist buzzkill. Their work has been published by The Lilac, The Indicator, News Decoder, and All Existing Literary Magazine. They can be found on Instagram at @wxddo.
Get Poems of Color as a physical chapbook or eBook from JAKE.
