Kent Neal
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First Flirt
That night, I exchanged epistolary fragments
of space rock with a guy
I met online. On the TV,
clips of a seal pup being bitten
and shunned by others
for the contrast between their dark
and her ginger fur. A map
of the solar system hung
on my wall. The guy filmed me
touching myself. My celestial body
spun on its axis. The next day
at school, his video
outed me to everyone.
As I walked along the beach, the ocean
kept slapping a rusted hulk
repeatedly across its pock-marked bow.
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Kent Neal, a gay poet, has published three poetry collections: The Compass, the Labyrinth, and the Hourglass (2015), Where Saltwater Mixes With Freshwater (2017), and A Ray of Light in the Lion's Eye (2021). He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Lesley University. Originally from Oregon, Kent lives in Lyon, France. His poems have appeared in Painted Bride Quarterly, The Hole In The Head Review, Puerto del Sol, and elsewhere.