City in an Ash Tray

City in an Ash Tray

I take my pen from the ash tray,

And my lipstick from between my lover’s teeth,

And I write of people walking barefoot

Getting glass in their feet

And I swear, somewhere,

People make love in the street.

Fall in love with a people

With names you don’t know

Students don’t make it rain

We make it glow.

Gentle embers

Fuck with gender

We feel fucking rich

Although we are lenders.

Learning how to fly and then

Using rent money to try and get high again

Learning how to dye a friend

The same colour as as her eyes.

Yes, blood is thicker than wine,

But all my friends are vampires.

If your family do not respect your pronouns,

Then do not respect your family.

That is what my chosen family says

We start our libations when the day

Turns grey

And we let the rich kids in

But we never let them stay.

Give the youth new names

Set the city aflame,

My name is Laila,

A lioness mane.

Every night we got hurt

But still we never learnt.

Every night we dance

In a city that we burnt