Matty Layne Glasgow

Lady Caribou Is a Badass

Deal with it. How she grows antlers
just like the bulls—soft velvet crowns
that harden into sharp-boned flames.  

Zoologists say antlers are weapons
that bulls use to control harems.
Lady Caribou says I can run my own crew,

fuckboy, says I know these antlers ain’t
forever, but I’ll show you what I’m made of.
Zoologists say antlers are objects of

sexual attraction. Lady Caribou says
We all want to be wanted, says We’re all
drawn to the fire. Some zoologists say

Lady Caribou’s antlers are smaller &
less complex than a bull’s. Most of those
zoologists are men. Lady Caribou says

Fuck you guys, says I’ve got a goddam crown
on my head & a calf in my belly. Yes, Lady
Caribou wears a crown just like the boys,

except she carries it through winter, even
as a calf stirs within her, even as her body
knows the weight of two lives. When she

lowers her head, two hearts quicken.
She says This was never just about me, boy,
says You don’t fuck with a mother or her flame.

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Matty Layne Glasgow's debut collection, deciduous qween, was selected by Richard Blanco for the 2017 Benjamin Saltman Award and is forthcoming from Red Hen Press in June 2019. His recent work appears in or is forthcoming from the Missouri Review, Crazyhorse, Poetry Daily, Denver Quarterly, Grist, Houston Public Media and elsewhere. Matty lives in Houston where he teaches with Writers in the Schools.