I wake up with a weight on my side
and sun honeyed all over the sheets.
Mimi is curled up on my hip, her favorite
perch. Bao is spiraled into my belly,
purring like her dreams are spilling
with chicken & catnip. I’ve lost count of
the days i’ve hungered for touch
and they can tell. My thighs are spasming,
almost humming. The rays through curtains
fall on my shaking body, golden guitar
strings mid-dance. Mimi blinks her eyes
open; she’s always been a light sleeper.
On cue with this song about pain &
the sunrise, her paws press into
me– the light sting of a pointed claw
grazing as she kneads me like bread. Bao
spirals tighter, falling deeper into her
delicious visions. I rest there with them until
the dawn has finished singing.
Jazz Bell (they/ them) is a multidimensional professional offering Arts & Consulting services. They explore Disability Justice, Accessibility, LGBTQIA+ Justice, Sexuality, and Fat Liberation through visual art & graphic design, poetry & writing, vocal performance, consulting, speaking engagements, and more.
Their poetry has appeared in Button Poetry, Muzzle Magazine, Write About Now, Nat. Brut, the Dialogist, and elsewhere. They are a 2018 Pink Door fellow, a 2021 Fresh A.I.R. Resident, and their work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and “Best of the Net”. For more information on Jazz’s work, visit https://www.jazzbell.me/.