Tessara Dudley

SIRENS

Listen to Audio Version.

I arrived here
on a ship of failing
my mother packed me off
kissed me a temporary goodbye
her charm against loss
for a child already stepping
into adulthood.

Tessara Dudley is a poet-publisher-educator-activist living in Portland, Oregon, where she crafts poetry and personal essay from the intersection of working class Black queer femme disabled life. Dudley's hobbies include studying history, fighting oppression, building safer communities, and knitting. She can be found at http://tessaradudley.com