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      August 16, 202310 Things I Learned from Cinching Up a Drag QueenTraci McMickle

      1.
      A drag show dressing room
      smells like Urban Decay
      and two-buck ’80s hair shellac.
      2.
      Queens live under layers.
      Every surface a swap meet
      of things that hide other things.
      3.
      Pee before you tuck.
      Tuck before you cinch.
      Go to the bathroom in pairs.
      4.
      Fake nails will fight you.
      No matter how early you are,
      you won’t start on time.
      5.
      There’s no such thing
      as a dress rehearsal. Do it
      on the night or not at all.
      6.
      Photos must be high-
      angle with flash.
      Facetune is not optional.
      7.
      Whole queens bewitch
      audiences. Half a queen
      scars Taco Bell workers.
      8.
      Your fuckups are yours.
      Smile, honey. Even
      if you dance out of your tits.
      9.
      Do not touch
      the queens. Their paint
      is always wet.
      10.
      Taking off makeup
      is just as hard
      as putting it on.

      from #80 - Summer 2023

      Traci McMickle

      “I read my earliest poems at a sweaty bookshop in Missoula, Montana, over protesters yelling out on the Higgins Bridge. A fellow poet, late to the party, hollered back in blue language. My own phone went off as I read, and everyone laughed, stamped, and booed in turns. Afterward, real poets told me I was good, even though the writing was baby stuff. I knew I’d found my people, and I keep writing in order to deserve them.”

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