did you hear?
soft tulle ballerina barbie core
sipping watermelon Koolaid by the Claire’s store
is totally out of fashion
like,
you can’t wear knee high tights rising above thigh peak
cherry red chapstick kissing the corner of a bathroom mirror
oh the horror
tiny fruit hair snap-clips
glitter liner around cut crease
covering a shiner
smiling with strawberry lollipops in miniskirts and care-bear tanks
pigtails pinned over tricycle handlebars
salted tears mixing a blend of melted caramel vanilla cones
puckering a full pout for the camera lens
a photobooth crammed full of mosquito bites
flushed tender sun burns from a day of bikini beach escapades
rose blushed to the high press of cheekbones
hot bubble-gum pop brushed inside velvet-soft eyelids
beware pink for it is not what you think
did you hear?
pink is what makes you too girly
too cool
too worthy.
but you can’t tell anyone, okay?
Katrina Lemaire is an emerging poet and fiction writer from Souther Ontario. She was a finalist for Sunspot Literary Journal's Geminga Contest 2023 and is currently working on a YA Contemporary Manuscript about gay witches and haunted forests with too many ghosts.
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