Synkroniciti is thrilled to welcome poet Karen Poppy with “Genderless Mother,” which takes us into the world of a non-binary, transgender mother and their journey to becoming who they are meant to be, in this case including, but not limited to, female to male top surgery. Society spends so much time reinforcing stereotypes that we automatically associate concepts and character traits with gender–even with body type. This is not only unnecessary, but damaging to people throughout the binary to non-binary spectrum. Should fierceness belong to the masculine realm and nurture to the feminine? Should the feminine always be soft and curvy or is there more space in the gender spectrum than society dares to imagine? Clear-eyed and open, Karen reminds us that there is such variety of experience, all of it valid, and celebrates those mothers who are excluded, ignored, and outright persecuted.
Read Karen’s important poem in the “Empowered” issue of our online magazine, available here. You can subscribe or order the issue, which debuted September 1, 2022.
A non-binary poet, Karen Poppy has work published in numerous literary journals, magazines, and anthologies. Her chapbooks Crack Open/Emergency (2020) and Our Own Beautiful Brutality (2021) are both published by Finishing Line Press. Her chapbook, Every Possible Thing, is published by Homestead Lighthouse Press (2020).
Karen Poppy deeply admires and is inspired by artist and writer Eaton Hamilton. An attorney licensed in California and Texas, she lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Please check out Karen’s website.