body study for
a bad day
leg leg leg
two black blundstones
gray calf socks
no breaks no
skin no body
no head
me as i was and or am
can be shoulder shoulder
shoulder more than two
tattoos should
body me will you
not take me
how i am

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sterling-elizabeth arcadia (she/they) is a trans poet and lover of birds. Her work has been published in HAD, poetry.onl, New Delta Review, and elsewhere. She is a first year MFA at Rutgers–Camden.