Marsha P. Johnson Visits Me as I Dream by Pam R. Johnson Davis

Illustration by Mimi Mutesa @mimimutesa

a golden shovel poem

after Terrence Hayes

She reaches for her sparkly gloves and lays them out on her bed, declaring, “I 

don’t know what I am if I’m not a woman.” She muses, “You see

a bed is not a luxury we’re all afforded. So I dress up even as the

night sky calls me to dream.” She smiles, her lip gloss serving as a light

shining on a busted lip, a wound she carries with pride and

joy. She’ll carry a thousand bruises, shatter more glasses, proclaiming, “Darling, I

want my gay rights now” while her pink lace nightie flows on the breeze of an open window, fly

as ever, even as she prepares for slumber. She looks toward


the moon and sees it as holy. Glitter is her favorite color and she liberally applies it.

Pam R. Johnson Davis is a writer, historian, singer, and educator residing in Chicago, IL. She loves writing poetry, especially as she navigates life, loss, and love. Her award-winning first book, “Seasons (I’ll Be Seeing You): A collection of poems about heartbreak, healing, and redemption” debuted at the #1 spot for New Releases in African-American Poetry and Women’s Poetry Worldwide on Amazon. You can find her poems published in Ghost Heart Lit Mag, The Bitchin’ Kitsch, Mental Realness Mag, Square Wheel Press, Pages Penned in Pandemic, and others.

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