star jelly

my gender is astral jelly;

the nascent remains of a celestial body

crash landed on earth, discovered and marveled at.

stella terrae in Latin, imbued

with healing magic from the Milky Way.

my mythos reaches each continent and every age.

my gender is star rot;

slime hunted for by witches, amidst the brambles,

hanging off the thorns, translucent, elusive.

pwdre ser in Welsh, useful but pungent,

my wafting scent, that confuses some,

draws those who matter near.

my gender is moon decay;

found on the bottom of a boot once worn

by Neil Armstrong, shapeless, impalpable,

caca de luna, a slime mold in Veracruz,

so other-worldly that it

demands to be worshipped.

my gender is the vomited remains of digested amphibians,

fungus on decaying wood,

spherical colonies of bacteria, bloated after a rainfall,

a dissolving flying saucer claimed the Philadelphia Inquirer,

but no one, not journalists, not scientists, not wizards, nor my family,

understands what it means to be star jelly.

Bio -Dane Lyn is a nuerodivergent, genderqueer, educator, poet, and glitter enthusiast with an MFA from Lindenwood University. Find them in L.A. with their partner, constructing blanket forts, caring for their menagerie of teens, snakes, lizards, dogs, rabbits, and cats, and ridding their shoes of beach sand. Dane’s work can be seen in Quillkeepers, Gutslut, and Imposter. @punkhippypoet is where you will find them on Instagram and Twitter. Links to published writing found at DaneLyn.net