The new mask doesn’t squeeze, scrunch my ears.
End of day, indentations 
where it pressed against my face
in the staff bathroom mirror
like marks around my eyes after swimming, 
unclamping my goggles, lines—
here, my skin said yes, 
here no. 

I am jealous of the way my body asserts 
legibly. Wish it could etch how I feel 
               about returning to the pool, 
         starting to eat in restaurants again,
   buying a button-up shirt without a gender
so I wouldn’t have to wonder. 
So obvious to others, 
I wouldn’t have to say a word. 

Katie Cameron (she/they) is a queer writer living on the unsurrendered territory of the Mi’kmaq (Truro, Nova Scotia). Her work has appeared in Plenitude, untethered, Qwerty, and Impossible Archetype. Their debut chapbook, Wide Rings, is forthcoming through Qwerty’s HOMEROW: Chapbook Series.