Polyethylene Kids

by Shaoni C. White
Issue 13: QTPOC

Tarot Card by Kinoko

all the world’s rivers
send love and oil slicks
to Styrofoam City.
the whole world’s refuse
gyres and gyres
and makes its way

here. that means
us, the polyethylene kids,
the runaways, the
shiny thrown-aways,
the dead-too-earlies, our
soft rat bodies
scrabbling in puddles
trying to close a claw
around a gleam. and

our soft ratty lungs
are breathing. full
of fur and lead
and breathing. full of
discarded candy wrappers
and breathing. loud
like the bass and
breathing

kerosene at the show
cuz Queen Plasticene
is on tonight
and she’s gonna save us.
her unearthly circlet
neon on her brow. we’re
all gonna breathe
inside her reverb.
breathe in her makeup
dripping synth
-etic, synth
-esis, synth
-pop, bright and deathless
as plastic

and she’s singing

diethylhexyl phthalate
polyvinyl chloride
radiation
lead
1,2-dichloroethane
Bisphenol-A
shiny thrown-away
kids with no future

just infinite
radioactive nows

she’s singing
welcome home