'Honey, Jam, and Marmalade', by Mercury Sunderland

brush my teeth in
honey, jam, & marmalade
clean the grime away
in sweet fruits
& sugars of nature

in my mouth
the queen bee sleeps
i must not disturb her
with the rhythm of clean

queen bee dreams amongst
strawberry fields
& grape vines

grow quickly &
tangle her body snug
onto my tongue.

all the little bees
wish to pollinate
sweet flowers
they cannot see

so they walk unguided
& fall deep into my throat
sting me from the inside
so i swell

a kingdom of bee corpses
is found acid away
amongst the sweet fruit
they died for

brush my teeth in
honey, jam, & marmalade
clean the grime away
in sweet fruits
& sugars of nature

in my mouth
the queen bee sleeps
i must not disturb her
with the rhythm of clean.

Mercury Sunderland (he/him) is an autistic gay trans man. He's been published by University of Amsterdam's Writer's Block, University of British Columbia's Decomp, UC Davis' Open Ceilings, UC Riverside's Santa Ana River Review, and UC Santa Barbara's Spectrum.