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Dayna Hodge Lynch

Power of Blood

Wine-breathed and lonely 
She rests along with her bones
She presses her teeth to the inside 
Of her cheek harder than expected 
She has learned to measure time in pain
One problem spilling into another 
Before the familiar taste of copper 
 
The first time she bled
A sadness surrounded her
along with her mama playing telephone
Calling all her “aunties”
handing her a pad
saying she’d get used to it 
 
Shifting thighs cut with denim and rough hands
When she first learned the power of her blood
Holy--the heavy liquid made everyone stop 
Just like when the blood snaked from her nose to 
her new shirt in the 5th grade after the monkey bars 
Just like when her former lover made the gooey substance 
rush to the surface of her skin, wading in her body for release
Just like when she held her friend [redacted’s] bloody hands 
after filling out the police report naming her attacker
Watching her friend [redacted] bury herself 
Before we would have to 
 
The catcalls of men who wanted to kink out her body
Gods made homes in all my niggas that bleed 
On streets, in hospital beds, in her bed 
Bootleg tumbleweeds rolling inside her body 
Upset at the state of the world 
she never wants to reproduce 
So she bleeds

Biography

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​Dayna Hodge Lynch (she/they) is a poet from North Carolina. Dayna is a Black queer woman who writes to explore personal histories and expand her own beliefs. Dayna received her B.A. in English and an African and African-American Studies minor from Loyola University of New Orleans and has received her MFA from Queens University of Charlotte. She works at a library, enjoys eating mangoes, and can’t wait to get back to New Zealand. 
 
            Instagram: @definitelyday

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ISSN 2639-426X
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  • Home
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    • Issue 49
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    • Issue 44
    • Issue 43
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    • Issue 40
    • Issue 39
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    • Issue 37
    • Issue 36
    • Issue 35
    • Issue 34
    • Issue 33
    • Issue 32
    • Issue 31
    • Issue 30
    • Issue 29
    • Issue 28
    • Issue 27
    • Issue 26
    • Issue 25
    • Issue 24
    • Issue 23
    • Issue 22
    • Issue 21
    • Issue 20
    • Issue 19
    • Issue 18
    • Serenity
    • Issue 17
    • The Audio Room
    • Issue 16
    • Issue 15
    • Issue 14
    • Play It Again
    • Issue 13
    • Issue 12
    • Issue 11
    • Issue 10
    • Issue 9
    • Issue 8
    • Issue 7
    • Issue 6
    • Hand to Mouth
    • Issue 5
    • Issue 4
    • Issue 3
    • Issue 2
    • Issue 1
  • Submissions