I loaned a friend a book
a few weeks before he went to prison
for ten years
if you think it matters
how he ended up there
you won’t get this but
he got a line from that book
tattooed on his chest (around where Superman
had the capital S) and he
told me my superpower
is knowing what people need
to hear then not saying it

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Lindsay-Rose Dunstan, MD (she/they) is a queer psychiatrist, prison/police abolitionist, and founder of Uncaged Minds, a mental health and wellness resource for Detroiters with neurodivergent conditions and marginalized identities. Her work has been published in leftist and mental health journals, poetry anthologies, and Slate Magazine. Her debut chapbook, Odes to Floating, will be published by Finishing Line Press in 2024. She lives in Detroit.

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