wrong side of the changeroom
by Angelic Goldsky
the mediterranean sea the red sea wreck beach jericho at night, basking my body in crevices, letting go of
years of hot revenge & barely shouldering god who told me to be otherwise. I surrender &
the hot tub the bathhouse the banya the slavic women the queers @ JJ spa, always on the wrong side of
the change room, my women on the wrong side of ukraine, me & you at bota bota, scandinave, posse till
we meet in the heat of a private airbnb our spa of centuries luxury deep & aching a
fucking/ ceremony intimacy/ torn out
dawn/ of defiance
the colour/ of hot
the glitter/ of a thousand hickies
you/ gorgeous & naked
your/ poem surrounding us
the image of us/ cooking
my country/ blue pink & white & immortal
our sacredness a past life kind of damn–
babushka hits me with 5 pounds of eucalyptus! The vodka steams our breath.
I’m awake.
the water prays for all those diasporic dykes like us. looking as guilty as we should. the Otkaznik heat.
women of worship, the trans bodies unoccupied, the bend that became blasphemous, I sweat to you in
reverence &
you crawl out of the steam looking like you have something to say,
but baby do not say it here
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Angelic has been published in Frontier Journal, Camas, Diaspora Baby Blues, Zoetic Press among others. They also served on the editorial board for the Room Magazine where they were the assistant editor for various issues, as well as the editor and curator for the Rainbow Intimacies Collection with Poetry in Voice. Formerly the Poet in Residence at the Roundhouse Community Centre (2021), Angelic was shortlisted for the Canadian League of Poets Canadian Spoken Word Award (2024) and represented Canada in the LGBTQ+ showcase at the World Poetry Championship in Brussels (2022).
