It is striking, is it not,
the silence
of those you love
who do not love like you?
https://medium.com/prismnpen/limited-love-5047d1db486e?sk=8174d6659d938de6b5c106fcdda0e5a7
New at Last Grotto: "Never Mind" by Jacob Friesenhahn
An intimate meditation on desire, generosity, and loss—a speaker offers everything (time, gaze, mind) to the beloved while remaining uncertain whether anything of substance remains to be found:
You may drink
from the pools
my eyes have become,
though I would not blame you
if you have a taste instead
for fresh running waters.
Read the full poem on our philosophy and literature blog https://lastgrotto.net/posts/never-mind/
Originally published in Ginosko Literary Journal (#31, Winter 2023-2024), now at Last Grotto.
Jacob Friesenhahn is the author of The Prayer of the Mantis (Kelsay Books, 2025).
#poetry #contemporarypoetry #desire #QueerPoetry #PoetryMatters
They spoke of peace like something staged,
A note to sign, a war to cage,
A ribbon cut with practiced ease,
A photo op, a moment seized
Then came their Board of Peace, all smiles,
https://medium.com/prismnpen/threatening-all-complacent-order-poetry-966762e99f00?sk=f60ef1c8caa1f4ae3408fa61f4e87a4a
Tears of Loneliness stain her sheets,
a Transgender Woman longing for Love.
N0 money for love.
But, men want to pay,
it’s easier that way.
It’s true,
Can’t trade money for love...
https://medium.com/prismnpen/a-cheap-hotel-room-bed-dreaming-of-true-love-e38f7bdefd07
Thou shalt not kill.
But she did not comply
fast enough.
Fucking bitch.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/a-mothers-blood-a-poem-of-pigs-and-murder-375bf47db361?sk=7968a05b8377ce4097e128f71489a437
#LGBTQ #Poetry #QueerPoetry #ReneeGood #ReneeNicoleGood #ResistancePoetry
No one is interested in bellies well-fed
or writings of joy from my kind. Starve
a little, they say. Leave mascara smudged.
Amplify the pain...
https://medium.com/prismnpen/persona-a-poem-c52ba72e7729
She was a lost soul,
wishing through a glory hole,
and where is her prince,
will he make her his princess?
https://patsystarke-62626.medium.com/a-lost-soul-and-a-glory-hole-a-somewhat-graphic-poem-f0490e66554b
They said it wasn’t hate at all,
Just “parental rights” and “safety first,”
While kids learned early how to flinch
And swallow fear before their thirst...
https://medium.com/prismnpen/queer-lives-in-clean-language-15f8e2fc7765?sk=40d2388ac1d10d994e643735cc008edb
I don’t know what happened, nurse
Must’ve caught it in the door
Now it’s swollen like a marrow
And it’s very, very sore
I was painting the ceiling
Up a ladder when I slipped
The toilet brush was on the floor
And went on a little trip
(up my arse)...
https://medium.com/prismnpen/i-just-fell-f1dcc060162c?sk=2789eb746d74168d89ef027c8ac1f0cd
#LGBTQ #Poetry #QueerPoetry #Humor #NaughtyPoetry #MedicalHumor
jmtout
Prism & Pen
The Last Grotto