Puerto del Sol: Rosy Cheeks

First published in Puerto del Sol, Issue 61.1 Spring 2026

Rosy Cheeks

My friend searched
for meaning

in the word puto as a derogatory
for homosexual

to flip, queer, reappropriate it:
‍ ‍¿ putos ?

They questioned 
what the plural
might be,
if one wanted
to address
with love,
a gaggle of gays
with the percussive spitting sound 
that that word makes.

But their finger slid on the letter T

doubled it            
made two 
of the same

  Putto

              plural:
  Putti

Putti = angels, cherubs

representations of love, eros, 
mischievous spirits;
associates of Cupid, 

who fly 
oblong through the night.