For Shimi

Pantoum 
     -for S.T. Shimi
July 11, 1971 – December 2, 2020
 
How amazing is she  
Queen of Devine Street
Her righteous love like 
glitter dazzles on.
 
Our Queen of Devine Street
Miss Shimi, Shimarella, S.T.
Reflected in stage lights, her glitter 
dazzles on unapologetically.
 
Miss Shimi, Shimarella, S.T. 
sipping good gin in the beyond
dazzles on unapologetically
You get to choose, she wrote
 
beyond clearly, biting as good gin 
We just wear these surly, shiny bonds
Assigned to us. I slip out of them
And your grasp
 
My layers shimmering and shaking. 
See, she even broke the form 
of this poem, grinning wide, sexy 
as Prince, effortless as sunrise.
 
She was born to break the form. 
Is the party still going? Her laugh 
echoes effortless as sunrise, 
dressing up, dressing down, calculated grace. 
 
If her laugh echoes, the party is still going. 
Black Orchid, ¡presente! Thanalakshmi Subramaniam ¡presente!
Dressing up, dressing down her body dances on
like a badass map, a fierce cocktail, a rare bloom.
 
Black Orchid, ¡presente! Thanalakshmi Subramaniam ¡presente!
Let her righteous love teach us the way onward
a badass map, a fierce cocktail, a rare bloom.
How amazing is she?