Weaponized floss in hand, 

I scrap the stains off my teeth

as the podcast rages

about affirmative action at colleges.

I still get texts about my face,

bannered across Michigan’s website

against sepia-colored stone. 

The voices barrel off the bathroom

walls over if I should be erased

from the portrait or praised

for the composition I bring

to the picture. Payment

would have been nice too.

They swipe dust of the fourteenth

while my toothbrush slides

around my mouth. I’m reminded how illegal

I really am–how federally taboo,

how scapegoat, how loophole,

how rhythm, hold the blues.

The spit in the sink drains slow.

“When do we stop working on diversity?”

I catch my own reflection and wait.

“If we don’t hold the colleges 

accountable, no one will.” And I exit the door.

Keiran (kay-rin) is a Brooklyn-native now residing in Jersey City, who hopes to step out of silently writing in the shadows. He earned his B.A. in English-Creative Writing from Franklin & Marshall College and his M.A. in Higher Education: Student Access and Success from the University of Michigan. Most recently Keiran had his first published poem online by Vermillion's Flash Issue 13 entitled "Catch Them All", so it feels like he's doing something right.