10 THINGS I LEARNED FROM CINCHING UP A DRAG QUEEN
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 Rattle #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.” (web)
