My Thumb is a Blood Red Marker

Written By Adria Killion

My life is moving fast
But the world is in slow motion. 
My chest breaks open,
Reveals the bloodied branch
Of an olive tree.
Eyes averted, voices hushed,
While boots are dirtied, skulls are crushed.
Another leaf falls beneath. 

Here I stand at the gates.
No pearls, no gold, no end in sight,
Only barbed wire and towers surveil.
The machined man hates that we see,
Not what we see.
Pliers for fingers, aiming for eyes, 
Crunching my bones in my defense. 
Now my right thumb is gone,
But at least I have my left.

The sun goes down, the flags go up
He squeezes my hand to fill his cup.
His very own caffeine. 
What could this all mean?

We are lined imperfectly 
Ambiguously 
Miraculously 
Paralleled and perceiving this nightmare gate.
We turn to one another and back again.
We seek the solace and hand of a friend.
We know what we must do.

We love You. 

I press my bare bone onto the stone.
My thumb is a blood red marker.
I scream in spite as I swipe to the right
And then down towards the center.
I swipe back up and to the left,
A shortened but sweetened love letter. 
I hope that my curdled blood 
Will cover every world's screen.
You have some catching up to do,
Don't you?

Through this triangle, my life drains
A portal to a new life splits open. 
Through my blood, I see your face.
Welcome to the race. 
My left hand reaches yours and I pull,
Your heels dig, then they give. 
I'm sorry.
We no longer have a choice.
We need you to use your voice. 

Memorized lyrics, unison, fiery throats 
You may not know the words yet, comrade
But You will. 
All that We ask is to listen and learn.
To raise Your voice with Ours. 
You are a part of We are a part of They are a part of Her. 
Mother Earth. Divine Feminine. Our womb.
We betray Ourselves, a forlorn creature
Unknowing or uncaring of Her demise.
Can you hear Her cries?
Listen and bleed and ritualize with Us
So the world may catch on. 

Elbow in arm, We plant along the gate, 
With song, We shout Their decadence
We know now We can no longer wait.

Long live the resistance. 

We will free our people crying,
Or we will die trying. 

Adria Killion

Adria Killion is a prose writer and poet based in southern California.

Adria started writing as a child in elementary school, picking it up again as a teenager as a means to express her turbulent inner monologue. She would journal her thoughts in the form of poetry, spilling her metaphorical blood and tears into the creation of her art. This lead to horror short stories and a genre-shift novel currently in the works.

Her writing today consists mainly of whimsical meter and thoughts on political crises. In the process of discovering her voice, she channeled this energy into her written work, hoping to reach her audience by verbally shaking them by the shoulders. She recently also decided to re-work her novel idea with her newfound perception of the world and its inhabitants.

The longing to be surrounded by other queer writers who share a similar sentiment for meeting their goals and encouraging their peers led Adria to start the Breakthrough at the Lit Lab community with co-leader Julian. The community has become a safe space for queer humans, which she provides with nothing less than excitement for her fellow creative minds.

Adria leads most of the community's meetings in the Discord server. She collaborates with zine editor Robin to share the community zine, Concoctions.

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