Katy Haas is a poet, collage artist, and Furby enthusiast from mid-Michigan. Their work can be found in Delicate Friend, Taco Bell Quarterly, perhappened, and Bone Milk from Gutslut Press, among others. Find her on Instagram (@mouthshroom) or Twitter (@katyydidnt).

the sincerest form of flattery

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everyone is making pavlova 

and drinking topo chico

everyone is all 

    good vibes 

    hot girl 

    no sleep

while summer writhes 

on its back in the dry grass

but i’m all 

    gender dysphoric

    googling giardia symptoms

    bloated 

in my brand new bikini.

and it’s thoughts like this 

that keep me up at night:

there were so many reasons

i knew you would never

love me,

and now everything 

is a bad omen

in retrospect. besides,

my skin smelling only like sun 

is just one of many things 

i won’t change about myself. 

because i try not to say    can’t. 

i try to say words that feel good in my mouth 

like      lifelong 

like      aquafaba 

like      lilac

like      fuck you, pal.

    okay

but what i meant all along is that 

    everyone knows how to do the same things 

    and i don’t even know 

    what to think 

    when no one is looking.

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