sometimes i feel like a water bottle
indispensable yet easily dropped
plastic enough to last far too long
while never looking perfect
like a nametag at a summer camp
everyone hates,
only there in case
someone forgets basic information
or is simply an insensitive jerk: i am your plastic folding table, in that
you need me once a year
and so i fall into disrepair.
i am other people's pronoun pins
in that there are maybe 10 of me at every event and we all look like each other
has someone made a patch jacket
with multiple copies of me?

mk zariel (it/its) is a BashBack influenced transmasculine neuroqueer dyke anarchist. it organizes trans liberationist spaces across the great lakes region, performs spoken-word and theater, does graphic design for social movements, and vibes to classic queercore. it also hosts the podcast THE CHILD AND ITS ENEMIES (about anarchy in high school), writes for the Anarchist Review of Books, and writes the blog DEBATE ME BRO (a y2k style advice column about anarchy 101). its free-verse poetry is published (or forthcoming) in Unfuturing, Not Your Poster Child, Free Voice Revolution, What We Think About When We Think About Love, Chasing The Storm, The Creekside, The Insurgence, Anti-Misogyny Club, A Rose By Any Other Name, Suburban Witchcraft, Iceblink, Morning Star Literary, Marigold Community Zine,Midwestern Heat, HNDL Mag, Broken Teacup, The Groke, The Periwinkle Pelican, en*gendered, Minerva Press, The Nebula Journal, redrosethorns, miniMAG, and MyrtleHaus; its photography is featured in Coin Operated Press’s queer photography zine. it was a contributor to Communication Madison's art exhibition Let Me Tell You, a participant in Free Zine Week 2024, and collaborated with the artist f.f. kahani on an online mixed-media installation. it has presented on youth liberation at BashBack 2023, Smash By Smash West, Davidson Academy Online, Second Unitarian in Lakeview, and the SRSLY WRONG Discord Server. it is a moderator for the Spooky Specters and Chasing The Storm zines. hang out with mk on the big gay internet: https://linktr.ee/mkzariel
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