#nm esc

[librarycards]

NM ESC, "Car Emoji"

[lifeinpoetry]

compassion

& revenge. what if we scorch the archive? get lower, dirtier.

come back covered in dirt. the child that wanders off

into the woods returns part animal. & then the slaughter.

turn all the kids to dust. & then the phoenix

— NM Esc, from "Enclosure,” We Want It All: An Anthology of Radical Trans Poetics, eds. Andrea Abi-Karam & Kay Gabriel

[bostonpoetryslam]

We come to life in spaces of encounter Our kingdom to whoever gets our name right

NM Esc, “Annihilation Suite,” published in Peach Mag

[lifeinpoetry]

but here:

re: animated / splendent here: in full monstrosity & loved

— NM Esc, from "Born:2,” We Want It All: An Anthology of Radical Trans Poetics, eds. Andrea Abi-Karam & Kay Gabriel

[lifeinpoetry]

in the morning we hear that the government is shutting down & we hope they mean for good /& we rejoice / because we used to think there could be art warm enough to melt the knots of hate out of the body politic / but now we know / this country was built rotten / stayed rotten the whole way through

what i am saying is i feel helpless every day

— NM Esc, from "Sunset Vans,” We Want It All: An Anthology of Radical Trans Poetics, eds. Andrea Abi-Karam & Kay Gabriel

[lifeinpoetry]

if property is theft and theft is proper then i’m going to put my fist right through the sun and pull the light out. because we didn’t choose or want these bodies / but we are losing the right to repair them / & we need that warmth to hold each other up

if property is theft and theft is holy then i am proud / of every single year we’ve stolen back / of how much joy / is possible / to haul away from here / before the fuckers catch us.

— NM Esc, from "Sunset Vans,” We Want It All: An Anthology of Radical Trans Poetics, eds. Andrea Abi-Karam & Kay Gabriel

[lifeinpoetry]

& now we have this van & if there wasn’t so much work to do we could just drive it straight into a canyon & live slow. what i am saying is i still feel most at home up & down an open interstate / & i could use that calm to spread / because there is so much to hold / & i have such strange dreams here.

— NM Esc, from "Sunset Vans,” We Want It All: An Anthology of Radical Trans Poetics, eds. Andrea Abi-Karam & Kay Gabriel

[lifeinpoetry]

Any other year, I would slide / into yr muscle memory /

but here / in the anticipation / I tended only to the rupture /

nourished it / committed to it fully / to its wreckage

— NM Esc, from “Annihilation Suite,” published in Peach