compulsory heterosexuality
by mk zariel
dear boys,
i want to be a romance trope for you,
live inside forbidden-love lost-love straight-love narratives i put
on lana del rey and daydream of watching you act like a fool you l
ook like you dressed in the dark. it’s annoying. but i love
the way it feels to love you
i’m a heroine off the shelf of stock stereotypes,
leading lady with a theme song that trended on tiktok. i
feel like a rom-com heroine, purposefully thinking things
i might or might not believe, like “i actually like you.”
i want to love you like a straight girl on a silver screen, but
you wave your hands in my face like an alien being. you
are an alien being. thank god you’re an alien being.
thinking you’re an alien being—enemies-to-lovers plotline!
harlequin romantic suspense would be so damn
proud. you still look like you dressed in the dark.
it’s still freaking annoying. in a romance novel, that would
be the start of something. does that mean i actually like you?
mk zariel (it/they) 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 Insurgence, Anti-Misogyny Club, A Rose By Any Other Name, Suburban Witchcraft, Broken Teacup, The Periwinkle Pelican, 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, 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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