Masculinity Parable

"Is gender trash? I mean, yeah, but that's not the question. The question is, does it need to be? And this is where we start the work."
Myles Taylor's debut full-length collection explores the concept of a non-toxic masculinity: if it's possible, if it exists, and if not, how we can build it ourselves. Through the lens of a neurotic working-class transmasculine person, manhood is viewed not quite as an aspiration, but as a curse to be broken through reimagining: masculinity as kitchen / masculinity as glitter / masculinity as sunset / masculinity as service / as city block / as cicada shell / as abundance, relaxation, community, and ability to heal. To transition is to willingly enter a violent lineage, both in terms of violence done by men and violence done to the trans community, and Myles' poems are engaged in the work of pulling apart, examining, and deciding which pieces of the gendered world are worth keeping.