perhappened mag
issue 12: PARADE
waiting for
god the Drag Queen's
debut performance
AMI PATEL
she insists what she’s doing is fresh post-apocalyptic
creature chic with a hint of #fridarealness but i turn to best bestie
and give them a look like mhmm as i take a loooong sip of my drink
which is blushing something strong probably because i dropped $$$
when i barely made it through last month but god the Drag Queen
says don’t you worry gurl flipping back her beaver tail mane (ha ha)
after i get on stage you won’t need to worry ‘bout your paycheck
and those end of the month money gymnastics that even that cutie simone
whatshername couldn’t pull off i nod sure whatever she delicately
tugs at her plaster corset with her loooong branching nails i wonder
how her sweat would taste probably like the universe’s first dance
of berries or maybe it’d be like licking the biggest ashtray if the ashtray
was rimmed with that $$$$$$$ honey extracted from a deep Turkish cave
or maybe she’d taste like disappointment and tax returns i’m not surprised
best bestie is scrolling through the latest love fuck feelings app i swear
they swipe like they’re holding tiny platinum cards in their thumbs
i swirl my straw in my dwindling drink melted from blush to glimmer
watch two queens in too tall stilettos screech at each other on stage
the host reemerges in a blue leotard next we have a special performance
we are ohsoblessed to have her grace our tiny little stage give it up!
and there is god the Drag Queen and what the.
is she glowing like one of those himalayan salt lamps
and spinning like a top and are her arms multiplying
and when did she start levitating
is this the future of drag? the future
shimmy shimmy shake death drop
the future reeemix!
i look at best bestie whisper hot damn
they nod their phone is off
creature chic with a hint of #fridarealness but i turn to best bestie
and give them a look like mhmm as i take a loooong sip of my drink
which is blushing something strong probably because i dropped $$$
when i barely made it through last month but god the Drag Queen
says don’t you worry gurl flipping back her beaver tail mane (ha ha)
after i get on stage you won’t need to worry ‘bout your paycheck
and those end of the month money gymnastics that even that cutie simone
whatshername couldn’t pull off i nod sure whatever she delicately
tugs at her plaster corset with her loooong branching nails i wonder
how her sweat would taste probably like the universe’s first dance
of berries or maybe it’d be like licking the biggest ashtray if the ashtray
was rimmed with that $$$$$$$ honey extracted from a deep Turkish cave
or maybe she’d taste like disappointment and tax returns i’m not surprised
best bestie is scrolling through the latest love fuck feelings app i swear
they swipe like they’re holding tiny platinum cards in their thumbs
i swirl my straw in my dwindling drink melted from blush to glimmer
watch two queens in too tall stilettos screech at each other on stage
the host reemerges in a blue leotard next we have a special performance
we are ohsoblessed to have her grace our tiny little stage give it up!
and there is god the Drag Queen and what the.
is she glowing like one of those himalayan salt lamps
and spinning like a top and are her arms multiplying
and when did she start levitating
is this the future of drag? the future
shimmy shimmy shake death drop
the future reeemix!
i look at best bestie whisper hot damn
they nod their phone is off
Ami Patel (she/her) is a queer, diasporic South Asian writer. She is a VONA alum and a Tin House YA Fiction alum. Ami’s poetry is published in Unchaste Anthology Volume Two, Red Rock Review, and They Rise Like A Wave: An Anthology of Asian American Women Poets. Find her at amipatelwrites.com or @amiagogo on Instagram and Twitter.