InoPtah
On Trans Motherhood
Anya Johanna DeNiro
I went into the corn maze
with my children.
We became separated.
I reached a dead end.
with my children.
We became separated.
I reached a dead end.
I could hear my children.
A man crawled out of me
in the dead end.
I strangled him in the dead end.
I killed the man to become
their mother.
I strangled him.
I went looking for my children.
You are not their mother,
the cropduster says above me.
You are corpse.
I hear the children asking questions.
Anya Johanna DeNiro is the author of the novel OKPsyche (Small Beer Press) and the poetry chapbook From the Yew (Ethel). Her poetry has recently been published in Puerto del Sol, Antiphony, Imposter Review, and elsewhere. She lives in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Next Up: Rib by Nicky Yeager