MotherFlux
MotherFlux is the collaborative work of three queer parent-poets from the margins of (m)otherhood.
From embryonic dreamers and pregnancy-performers to sleep-deprived newbies and seasoned second-timers, their poems are raw, messy, and unflinching reflections on what it means to be a parent, and to make a family. The pamphlet considers gender, sexuality, politics, and the body as it moves between heightened individual experiences to outright rejections of societal expectations.
These are voices recording in real time, mothering in flux.
Erica Gillingham
Erica Gillingham (she/her) is a queer poet, writer, and bookseller living in London via Siskiyou County, California. She works as a bookseller at Gay’s The Word bookshop and serves as the Poetry Editor for The Signal House Edition. Her debut poetry pamphlet The Human Body is a Hive was published by Verve Poetry Press, and her poetry and essays have been published in various journals, anthologies, and radio, including in 100 Queer Poems; 365 Poems for Life; Queer Life, Queer Love; and on BBC Radio 4’s Short Cuts. She exists online at www.ericagillingham.com and @ericareadsqueer.
maternity wear, but make it tomboy femme
no animal print or chintzy florals or stupid sailor stripes
no pastel pink or constant black or every shade of beige
I want ombre looks and button-up shirts
the softest plaids in technicolour
capsule wardrobes with mouth-watering names
girlfriend jeans with the deepest of pockets
strong, extra-long muscle tanks, fitted tees
cotton t-shirt dresses with cuffed sleeves
carefully curated trainer collections for widening feet
with coordinated pop socks, a whole range
coupled with a coupon for your next undercut
endless wool and summer shackets with hip allowance
expanding crew neck sweatshirts, sturdy enough to last,
built to be passed on to someone else like
Jem Henderson
Jem Henderson (they/them) is a genderqueer poet from Leeds, winner of a Creative Future award for underrepresented writers. genderfux, their first collaboration came out February 2022. an othered mother, their first pamphlet, is out now from Nine Pens and a collaborative collection with Chris Cambell, small plates, is available from Broken Sleep.
Nazi bra sized
a dad at the school gates -
neck tattooed with eighty eight
it could be the year he was born -
we're all about that age, but I
stood a few more steps away
looked around when he looked my way
and now my tits betray me. 30HH
the label says. totalitarian titties
brownshirt knockers. fleshy faschy bosoms
which I can barely hold up, my back a wreck
and most men can no longer
look me in the eye
JP Seabright
JP Seabright (she/they) is a queer disabled writer living in London. They have four solo pamphlets published and two collaborations, encompassing poetry, prose and experimental work. They explore themes of gender, sexuality, trauma and the climate crisis in their work, and have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and Forward Prize (twice) as well as shortlisted (twice) for a Saboteur Award for Best Collaborative Work. More info at https://jpseabright.com via Twitter @errormessage and @jpseabright everywhere else.
Mummy, you’re a boy
my daughter declares with confidence
No I’m not, I reply
with some lack of certainty
Girls can have short hair too, I say
the word girl sticking in my throat
like her pink plastic chicco.
She pauses, gives this some thought
Mummy, you’re a girlboy
I shrug, we accept this as truth.
͂ ͂ ͂
I always imagined I’d make a good dad
play with my kid
encourage them in everything they do
tell them I love them
just like my own father
didn’t.
I shrug, accept my truth as girlboy mumdad.
Sometimes, we make our own role models.
