MIDDLE SCHOOL SUMMER

I knew how to check for bullets:

cylinder release, two fingers through

the frame: five tiny seeds, five answers

to questions my head kept asking.

While my parents were at work,

I dug dad’s revolver from his sock drawer

and carried it around the house.

I rubbed the cool barrel

on my cheeks, traced it

across my lips like the faggot I was

putting on lipstick. It was a dick

in my underwear pointing out,

or slipping into my ass. I twirled it

on my finger, my pocket a holster.

In my mother’s high heels

I was a glamorous spy,

or a Charlie’s Angel.

I aimed at mirrors—

bang, bang, myself an intruder

staring back at me.