ben kline / poem

Queer History

Your first name is never forever.

Lovers misremember you, then

you misremember lovers, then

love becomes new names 

weighing on your tongue.

A new tongue in the park 

you love after midnight, 

oak leaves shrouding trunks

your bare back holds on to

every name you answer to

until your last death. 

That death asks no names.

But others with your names will

find their backs against 

carved hearts and initials,

love softening the bark.

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Ben Kline (he/him) lives in Cincinnati, Ohio. A poet, storyteller and Madonna mega-fan/podcaster, Ben is the author of the chapbooks Sagittarius A* and Dead Uncles, as well as the collections It Was Never Supposed to Be (Variant Literature,) Twang (ELJ Editions), and Stiff Wrist (fourteen poems.) His work has appeared in Poet Lore, Copper Nickel, Florida Review, Hayden's Ferry Review, Poetry, and other publications. Learn more at https://linktr.ee/benkline.