Emily Uduwana

Straight Razor


I watched my father shave and he told me:
Mix your lather into stiff, steep peaks
like Italian meringue.

And he told me:
Lesbianism is unnatural--
a dog breeder told me so,
and she had a wife.

And he said:
Repeat the process but remember
not to irritate your skin--
if you pull the follicles too hard,
they’ll tear.

I watched my father rinse and he told me:
Women only love women
as a response to trauma.

I watched my father apply aftershave
to his skin, watched it run pink
with the blood that we shared,

and I shoved down a sense of
bitter satisfaction
at the evidence of that

little imperfection--
an imperfect process
for an imperfect man.