White Burnout, Peyton Ordner

White Burnout By Peyton Ordner

Flowers next to my bed are short, thick A slow but deliberate ascension rejoicing in all the love the sun has to pour Even deprived of rays and juice, they appear taller than they are Petals begging to touch the clouds and resilient trunks born of sparkling dirt so dark it had no choice but to love itself into becoming grown All its relatives teach it that competition is a death sentence Coevolution is the fertilizer on which it heals and multiplies. In this bed here, we tower boast roar our lanky limbs Watchkeepers of all the garden’s beds Distance visible but depth unfelt We’ve spurt too fast, and on what healthy foundations? Tall and withered we King ourselves though our genetic structure has no trace of words like community, solidarity, love A selfish purpose to sprout tallest by stealing my neighbors light This soil is poison snaking and curling up my weeping stem. My neighbor asks why I must rob the Kingdom of its height in order to feel tall The roots of by own bed, they lack resilience Ancestors ignorant to coevolution and interdependence Only wisdom was that of forgetting the venom in my genes Getting to complain about my height despite having stolen it all We will not last like this. Cut me off at the root and plant me again In a new bed, let us find a confident pace.

My mission is to open more dialogues about the experiences of women and gender non-conforming folks through impactful art and literature. With an intersectional feminist lens, I want to give this community a resource where they have a voice to share what it is like to live in their skin. My goal is to cover any and all subjects relevant to these folks, including but not limited to; sex, race, LGBTQ+ rights, body positivity, reproductive justice, ability, racism, colorism, sexual assault, Indigeneity, trans* rights, white supremacy, age, gender fluidity, domestic violence, patriarchy, sexuality, menstruation, relationships, toxic masculinity, sex positivity, uplifting favorite artists, writers, musicians, activists, etc. I hope to share perspectives from women and non-binary folks of all races, abilities, ages, religions, nationalities, and sexualities. Any and all forms of art and literature are accepted.

Thank you to everyone who supported this dream of mine and helped create a community around speaking our truths.

If you are interested in submitting work for the next issue, please contact me by email at syd.mislam13@gmail.com

Until next time.

SheThey Magazine June 2020