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dysphoria left its monsters

Alejandra Rosa

Read this in Spanish

dysphoria left its monsters
we shared a closet
without binary cloth

anguish asked for a truce
we substituted melatonin
for tender insomnias

chamomile hands
on scars
water bodies
without perennial confusion

we suspect anthills
and excavate deep in the earth
until we hit water

there are always drops under the soil
pleasure is a mountain range cutting across
a tropical forest
honey-covered cherries
between teeth

the bakery frost
on our breasts nipples
will make us body
papacito

Alejandra Rosa is a nonbinary afroqueer writer, performer and mover. Child of a baker, and grandchild of Doña Sarah, their work has been published in the New York Times, Time Magazine, 80grados, and revista étnica, as well as in the anthologies Sanaré (Editorial Étnica, 2022) and Ese lugar violento que llamamos normalidad (La Impresora, 2022). Winner of the Gabriel García Márquez Award for Cultural Journalism in 2019 and 2020. Author of Levadura (La Secta de los Perros, 2022). Member since 2022 of the antiracist dance-theater group Danza Orgánica. Simultaneously, they are pursuing a doctorate in Afro-Performance y Literature at Harvard University. // Alejandra Rosa es escritore, performere y movedore afrocuir no binarie. Hije de un panadero, y niete de doña Sarah, su trabajo ha sido publicado en el New York Times, Time Magazine, 80grados, revista étnica, así como en las antologías Sanaré (Editorial Étnica, 2022) y Ese lugar violento que llamamos normalidad (La Impresora, 2022). Ganadore de Beca Gabriel García Márquez de Periodismo Cultural 2019 & 2020. Autore de Levadura (La Secta de los Perros, 2022). Desde el 2022, forma parte de la compañía de danza-teatro antirracista Danza Orgánica. Simultáneamente, estudia un doctorado en Afro-Performance y Literatura en Harvard University.