MENTORSHIP RECIPIENT

Mentor Commentary:
Ali McClain

Recipient Reflection: Vanessa Maki

venus, planet of love

Poetry by Vanessa Maki

i want to hop into a spacecraft
maybe disappear to Venus
to get away from this world
that’s full of continuous disorder

would the aliens be in awe of my brown skin?
would they find me stunning or stellar?
i would hope to find an alien girl
who had gold colored eyes
who would touch me tender through my space suit
we would wade in a pool full of tektite
to meditate
to get lost in the vibrations

i would share my experiences
& then change the subject
so we could dance together
in space
on Venus, planet of love
​

Vanessa Maki

​Vanessa Maki is a queer writer, artist, and other things. She’s full of black girl magic and has no apologizes for that. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in various places like Entropy and others. She’s founder/EIC of rose quartz journal, interview editor for Tiny Flames Press, columnist for terse journal, and regular contributor for Vessel Press. She enjoys self publishing chapbooks. Her experimental chapbook social media isn’t what’s killed me will be released by Vessel Press in 2019. Follow her on Twitter @theblackbuffy.