Gender Reveal Ceremony

By

Scatter your rosebuds over a good,
              stout toad. No harm will come to the toad
                            in this ceremony, but also no kisses.
              The toad will not transform
into a tuxedoed beauty. I will

and won’t change during this ceremony.
              Add a teaspoon of sugar
                            & a teaspoon of dirt to help
              the truth go down: I was raised to want
to be the princess. I admire her

dresses but hate wearing anything
              so tight around the waist.
                              A broken hourglass, the sand strewn
              across a coffee table—that’s me.
A new pair of overalls, leopard print slippers,

my long hair airdried, no makeup
              covering my years—that’s me
                              too. I spent years trying to be
               the pink spray of glitter bursting
from inside the popped balloon,

but I’ve always been a turquoise
              lurker. I’d rather bake a rustic apple crisp
                           than dainty macrons. Here’s the truth:
              I have no cauldron. I can’t tell a toad
from a frog. I am stirring my selves together.

Stevie Edwards

Stevie Edwards holds a PhD in creative writing from the University of North Texas and an MFA in poetry from Cornell University. Stevie’s poems have appeared in Poetry Magazine, American Poetry Review, TriQuarterly, and elsewhere. They are the author of Quiet Armor (Northwestern University Press, 2023), Sadness Workshop (Button Poetry, 2018), Humanly (Small Doggies Press, 2015), and Good Grief (Write Bloody Publishing, 2012). They are the Poetry Editor of The South Carolina Review and a Lecturer at Clemson University. Originally a Michigander, they now live in South Carolina with their husband and a small herd of rescue pitbulls.

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