Cotton Xenomorph is a literary journal produced with the mission to showcase written and visual art while reducing language of oppression in our community. We are dedicated to uplifting new and established voices while engaging in thoughtful conversation around social justice.

Self-Portrait as Yurico with Metallic Wings

by Bailey Cohen

At this point, everything I touch
becomes something sharper. Dirt is mostly iron

deposits. Buoyancy seems far too strange
for something worth reliance. That humans

float is no fault of their own. I have been rusting
rapidly. I have been necromancing my own

ghost. Reminder: failure does not equate
immortality. Reminder: even God is sometimes

frail and that His taste hangs off my tongue
like passionfruit even sometimes—surely, you understand

the implications of all this. There are certain things
I can only remember to myself. Despite my wings,

I dangle like a human. I love what is particularly
unremarkable. By this unit of measurement,

I have already accomplished most things.
I have swum in shallower bodies of water

than this one. What I desire, I must manifest.
I am the stillest lake. No earth can hold me.


Bailey Cohen is a queer Ecuadorian-American poet studying at NYU. The founder of Alegrarse, the Associate Editor for Frontier Poetry, and a Best of the Net nominee, his work appears in or is forthcoming from publications such as BoulevardRaleigh Review, [PANK]The Penn ReviewUp the Staircase QuarterlyBoiler Journal, and more. Bailey can be found across most social media platforms @BaileyC213. He loves everyone Latinx.  

A Little Background Information

for the spring semester & for hannah rego