Everix Machan

Everix Machan

Everix Machan (he/him) is a queer, transgender, and autistic undergraduate poet from Wisconsin. His poetry is published or forthcoming in The Gentian, The Branches, ONE ART, Gyroscope Review, and The Rebis, among others. When not writing, he is often researching, reading, and finding excuses to perform.

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Upon Being Asked Why I’m Never a Person in My Poetry

on a day when my heels really dig into the carpet

i imagine that i could loosely resemble a jellyfish 

or some other translucent deep sea monstrosity 

i internally peel skin away, layer by layer, until 

all you see are my organs constricting, releasing 

and my bones, darlin, my pearly white bones 

it’s make believe so you’ll see there’s no inherent 

biological marker that makes me more than prey 

i drift around inside of my body at night, feeling 

present in my forehead or collarbone or knees 

anchored as much as a parachute, only enough 

to approximate a safe landing if the fields are clear 

why am i only inanimate, not anthropomorphic? 

if i’m being honest, i just can’t muster up 

the energy to be something with a beating heart 

forgive me if i’m a porch door left ajar or a flat 

kickball or a rusting fence instead of being alive 

i don’t get enough sleep to make something real 

from the vast expanse of nothing in my ribcage 

these days i’m lucky if i speak before noon 

i try to weave poetry from static but honestly 

it’s been a long time since i felt personified