Blistex Lesbian
is what Tristan called me at the 8th grade lunch table when the burning desire to see me in a box made him boyishly claim a name, a language, a body i hadn’t finished growing into. i never said i was a lesbian. cuz you’ll never wear lipstick he slipped in through howls of laughter. and i chuckle in acceptance. known to swallow whatever the boys are pouring. they’re who the girls go giddy over and i needed an in to the crowd. the girls. the box. the show he had no business watching that talked about girls kissing girls and made it somewhat okay. i needed to feel seen, even as a joke. better that than invisible. plus, everyone loved blistex. call this a lesson in naming and lubrication.
Audio: Roya Marsh reads “Blistex Lesbian”
Roya Marsh is a Bronx-born poet, performer, educator, and activist. She is the author of dayliGht (2020) & SAVINGS TIME (2025), both finalists for the Lambda Literary Award in Lesbian Poetry. Currently serving as the inaugural Poet in Residence for Oye Group NYC, her work centers Queer liberation & insists on white people’s responsibility in dismantling white supremacy. She is co-founder of the Bronx Poet Laureate program & leads creative writing workshops with NYC DOE, PEN America Emerging Voices, Lambda Literary’s LGBTQ Writers in Schools, and Poets & Writers. Roya is a recipient of the Lotos Foundation Prize for Poetry & the 2024 BRIO Award from the Bronx Council on the Arts.
Roya and her work have been featured widely including, The Academy of American Poets, The Poetry Foundation, Poetry Magazine, GLAAD, Electric Literature, the Village Voice, Nylon Magazine, Huffington Post, The Root, Button Poetry, BAM, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, The National Mall, The Apollo Theater, Joe’s Pub, Lexus Verses and Flow, On One with Angela Rye, BET and The BreakBeat Poets Vol 2: Black Girl Magic (Haymarket 2018).