POEM IN WHICH I READ TRANS

by Cavar

FOR THEM

For Nex. For space. For silence. For violence. For bleed. For blame. For flame.
For room. For roast. For sick. For [sic]. For name. For mine. For death. For dark.
For bruise. For hunger. For name. For have. For halve. For them. For them. For
him. For him. For him. For him. For him. For him. For him. For him. For him.
                                                         For him. For him. For him. For him. For him

Notes:

“For them/him” has been repeated sixteen times, once for each year of Nex’s (of blessed memory) life. “For them” refers both to Nex’s secondary pronouns and to victims of cissexist violence broadly. The remaining “for him”s reflect the pronouns Nex himself preferred according to accounts provided by his friends and chosen family.

[sarah] Cavar is an anti-genre writer, PhD candidate, and instructor of undergraduates on both u.s. coasts. Their debut novel, Failure to Comply, is forthcoming with featherproof books (2024). Cavar is editor-in-chief of manywor(l)ds.place, and has had work published in The Offing, Split Lip Magazine, Nat. Brut, Electric Lit, and elsewhere. More at www.cavar.club, librarycard.substack.com, and @cavarsarah on twitter.