The Flamboyance of Flamingoes

by Bernardo Villela

Flamingoes flew after me.

My friends and I came here for Pride. Now they’ve died.

I was scream-queening. A nun fleeing the convent hoisted me onto her back. Grown man becomes baby.

Splashing into the sea, archeologists followed firing at will but missed. The flying pink nightmares wouldn’t be deterred.

Sister carried a violin bow. She swung at them.

The flamingoes cut me with their toenails and kicked me off the nun’s back.

My blood reddening the water, I knew the flamboyance of flamingoes would become pinker and more aggressive. With my dying thoughts I prayed for their future victims.

Bernardo Villela

Bernardo Villela has short fiction included in periodicals such as Coffin Bell Journal, The Dark Corner Zine, Sparked Literary Magazine and forthcoming from Eerie River Press. He’s had stories included in anthologies such as From the Yonder II, Queer as Hell, and Disturbed. He has had poetry published by The Ekphrastic Review, Zoetic Press, and Bluepepper among others. Website:  www.miller-villela.com