your beauty is a rock that you carry 

in your pocket 

 

you can feel its weight and shape 

and if you want  

you can draw it out carefully 

like a baby bird 

 

you can duck behind some bushes 

and hurl it through a window

 

 

merritt k is a writer and podcaster. Her first book, Videogames for Humans, is an exploration of contemporary interactive fiction and was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award for Best LGBT Anthology. Her second, a collection of poetry with Niina Pollari, will be published in 2017 by TigerBee Press. She hosts the podcasts Woodland Secrets and dadfeelings, and can be found on Twitter at @merrittk.