Poetry

Private Property

Aaron Bratys


I am the three legged-fox in dreams I am flayed / displayed and worn down a runway / grew up told you can be anything / here’s a participation trophy dressed up / environmentally friendly 2 day prime shipping / packing peanuts subsidize low-grade anxiety / sits a dashboard accessory / sparks a question / torn / am I deplorable? / my portrait of dorian best adorned in the darkness / sparks an instagram moment / torn / a mirror in the closet / lights off for my 49 followers / hostage to dysmorphia / what’ll they say at my memorial? / pity a smile like armstrong / plopped atop a body like hawking / another recluse lost to flashbulb hierarchy / I shit in the dark / guided by ableist candlelight / streaming boy defies gravity / derivative plot holds a steady sixty-percent certified rotten / original draft sleeps beneath tombstones / overcrowded family plot / fertile trauma to be harvested / bent seed sprouts in piss drenched garden / screams great jupiter carry me / further than my body does / farther than my father did / I lick the mourning orchid / in the name of stockholm syndrome / while the milky way eats out my backbone

 

About the Author

Aaron Bratys is a poet from Columbus, Ohio currently living in Los Angeles. His work takes on themes of legacy, atrophy, and activism and their roles at the intersection of disability and queerness. When not writing, Aaron can be found hanging out at hardcore punk shows, searching for the best pastrami in LA and learning to speak Polish & Norwegian. 

vector icon of building

Corporate Education

Learn how we can help your organization meet its professional development goals and corporate training needs.

Learn More

vector icon of building

Donate to UCLA Extension

Support our many efforts to reach communities in need.

Innovation Programs

Student Scholarships

Lifelong Learning

See More