Poetry By Gabriel Pulido

Shawn Nystrand CC




Queer Heaven

My friend Jack and I are talking 
about heaven and hell. 
and how I’m going to heaven. 
Naturally. 
Except he doesn’t believe me. 
Someone convinced him of our hell bound, long ago.
But I insist, and don’t our visions begin with our desires? 

If someone believes that Rihanna’s umbrella, 
queer and trans people, sexually liberated people, 
are to go to hell 
then you better believe 
I chose to dream us sacred 
and worship every bone of our body. 

This morning Whitney Houston’s
Greatest Love of All crescendos until
my body unbraids itself from my cloud.
I am greeted by a sky of queer people,
everywhere I go, all the time, we are here. 
The days of being the only one are far behind us.  
An orchestra of Mariah Carey’s whistle notes 
welcome me into every room I float to. 
what a time to be dead and breathing. 

In heaven there are no pearly gates, 
all migration is welcomed, 
here, bridges extend themselves 
so your back does not have to. 
Feminist theory, poems, and answered prayers,
Oh My Gloria Anzaldua.

Here, we are all royal. 
Everyone gets a piece of Cady Heron’s crown.
Hell, take the entire thing,
wear it till the rhinestones fall off.
Drip, drip, spill off tiny stones on divine souls. 

In heaven, there will be drag.
All costumes are yours for the wearing.
Ariana Grande was right, god is a woman.
Sasha Colby is indeed god. 
What a time to be dead and breathing. 
Drag sanctuaries are unmatched,
Alonya Chest makes shows a home
You go in there and you feel, 
you feel 100% right for being gay. 

Do you remember on pose, 
when Angel got her red heels,
The joy of finally being seen?
In heaven, we all heal. 
Receive the toys, and proms, and lives 
our younger selves desperately needed.
Finally, the category is love. 

I have fallen Dangerously in Love, 
Crazy in Love, Love on Top, Drunk in Love
Still, no Love Drought.
All I can say is, I love us deep, deep, deep, deep.
To be free means to entangle yourself with love, 
and dare say that this time
freedom will be glorious.

By no means am I always right,
but I mean everything that I write. 
Queer and trans Mexicano with a pen, 
every day in this Joteria ass heaven, 
I practice my craft and open my heart,
out in the open, like glitter and lightening 
poems on prayers, prayers on poems.

Breathe. 
Feel the future, it is so abundant. 
See the past, it no longer haunts us.
Taste the present, it is finally a gift for us. 
Unwrap your holy 
and marvel. 


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Gabriel Pulido (@gabrielpuede) was born and raised in Sacramento, California, and first became involved with creative writing in the youth poetry slam scene. Gabriel centers on stories of joy, life, resilience, and everything in between. Gabriel has been published in Tendon Magazine and Culture Strike. Currently, Gabriel is a doctoral candidate in Higher Education (with a double minor in African American and Diaspora Studies & Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies) at Pennsylvania State University.
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