Alix Olson Myth
It is myth
That Amazons chopped off one breast
To make room for the strap of the labyrice
It is not a myth that womyn sacrifice, nor that bodies are inconvenient
Sometimes, we surrender the feminine for the fight, shift the weight of progress to our hips
And balance guns like babies
That is no myth, that is survival
My father once said he believed myth propagated the species
That the urge to believe was mostly stronger than belief itself and so survival
Was belief in myth
The lump in my sisters breast has led her to believe that her breasts are unreliable
Still, she would rather have two
She wonders who would be qualified to erase one half of her
And what sort of weapon they would choose
My father was the first to suggest
That lesbianism was a weapon. He said
For the most part, bodies are inconvenient, at least lesbian bodies are political.
It was convenient that I found breasts lovely
My sister asks if she would be lovely with only one breast. I tell her yes
That bodies are political, I tell her yes, that sacrifice is progress.
She tells me yes, that is your myth.
She tells me this is my survival.