.png)
Mykki Rios
Water Burial
I became bleached reef
No color, no growth,
I camouflaged by necessity
blending with the skeletons I was told
I should aspire to
begging for a place amongst
the hooks and barbs and poisons
I never doubted where I came from
until the caustic words of school children
Where does that confidence come from?
Classification before one has even met the self
walking a tightrope and paying no attention
to the tank of sharks below
A beautiful buoyant thing
that comes with being Mexican
is that you’re taught not to treat death
as an absolute ending
I can cherish myself into an altar
with underwater flowers rejuvenating
I can wish my skin back over my bones
Mykki Rios is a genderfluid Mexican-American poet, performer and interdisciplinary artist. Raised in Chicago, and having lived many places across the globe, they strive to achieve clear, authentic communication and self-expression that strikes a chord with the human condition. Mykki has had work published in issues of The Minison Project, story twigs, and Welter.
