Issue One

Poem by Jennifer Adese

February 15, 2023

not a full halfbreed

a slight frown
turned down
the corner
wrinkled lips
withered contrast
to smooth skin
mouth drooping
to disappointed ends
sky-filled eyes
turned cloudy
as his object
of study
revealed itself
lesser than
desired results
a failed
experiment of
his mind
where he had
laser dissected
plucked strands
boiled skin
scraped out
miscegenation marrow
one
measured
spoon
at
a
time
tipped into
a pot
halfbreed soup
of
human thighs,
legs,
and breasts
then recoiled
at its bitterness
sputtered,
“Not a full half then are you?”

About Jennifer Adese

Jennifer Adese (she/they) (otipemisiwak/Métis) is a poet, professor, and academic author. She is the author of Aboriginal™: The Cultural and Economic Politics of Recognition. While relatively new to creative publishing, she’s been dreaming in poetry since she was eight years old.

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