Alexis Rhodes
Summer 2025 | Poetry
Big, Beautiful Camp
*Trigger warning: concentration camps
Come visit our new summer camp. Don’t concentrate too hard.
We hid it in the deepest swamps of Florida
We sell its merch and named it something sharp.
We dug a moat, dropped gators in. A circle abattoir.
We select the campers with our “People-Sorter.”
Come visit our new summer camp. Don’t concentrate too hard.
On Tuesdays, you will roast around a big, beautiful hearth
On Wednesdays, you will take refreshing showers.
We’ll sell its merch and name it something sharp.
Such family fun! The games we’ll play are run by prison guards.
They’re trained in this. They only follow orders.
Come visit our new summer camp! Don’t concentrate too hard.
You’ll get tattoos to show your spirit. Carve them from glass shards.
We’ll march around to camp songs, such good soldiers.
Come visit our new summer camp! Don’t concentrate too hard!
We’ll sell its merch and name it something sharp.
Alexis Rhodes is a queer, polyamorous poet, playwright, performer, and strategist based in North Carolina. Her poetry has been described as raw and confessional, with just enough humor to lighten the mood. Alexis’s work has also been featured in Blood+Honey Lit and HauteGrrrl Poetry. She has completed four anthologies: Notes on a Narcissist, LONGING, Goddess, and Spiked Crowns (a collection of sonnet crowns intended to dismantle Capitalism and the patriarchy one line at a time) and is submitting to publishers. Alexis lives with her husband, two kids, and a hedgehog named Hedge. Instagram: @alexis_writes_things