ISSUE 01: STATE(D) VIOLENCE
ABOUT
ERIKA GILL
Erika Gill (they/them) lives, writes and builds community on unceded Tséstho’e (Cheyenne), Očhéthi Šakówiŋ, hinono’eino’ biito’owu’ (Arapaho), and Núu-agha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱ (Ute) land in Denver, Colorado. Erika is the Editor in Chief of Alternative Milk Magazine, an independent biannual literary and art magazine. They grew up longest in Victorville, CA, which is notable only in being the filming location of The Hills Have Eyes. Erika’s poetry may be found in Rigorous, MORIA, Birdy, and other spaces. Their first collection of poetry, Lone Yellow Flower, is forthcoming from Querencia Press. Socials: @invariablyso
CONTEMPLATING ANARCHY IN THE BATH
In what feels like a short sequence of days
the rapidfire that grazed but did not strike
a stepping aside
theatre of the absurd
I came down with strep throat
(I am a carrier)
I sneeze and I exist within the context
I contemplate the foam as it slides down my skin
and exist within the context of 186,000 murders
I take my antibiotics as prescribed with great effort
reaffirm my conviction to do what it takes
to unbuild a system created to constrain
(I am a carrier)
even if that means not voting
losing my livelihood
facing the same horrors which already exist
within the context of that which came before me
weaponized fear, the real life history
now threatens all but that which came before
within me the context
those that chose the sea
the immortal genes
the men made syphilitic
the women shot in their own homes
Breonna, Sonya,
I am a carrier
of the context.