Creaky Bones

Breathtaking.  The young man shifts
His weight drags from belly to mouth
It’s about that time. 
He jostles his inner boy to speak,
To pronounce vestiges, “he,” “him,”
“His” mother’s last born male,
The one father held doubts about
Estranged, the quieted queer-to-be
A silence.  A doctor.  A talk.  Asleep.


That masculine weight
Bemoaned and hormoned till skeletal
Till dust, overtaken by an exhale
Her breath.