"For Whoever Is Listening"

For whoever is listening,

The boy with the dangly earring doesn't want to fight.

A gentle soul,

Collecting whispers through the wind.

We are only feeding the lonely hearts

And silencing those who listen-

Passing judgment with lenses

We have yet to wipe clean.

The LGBTQ community-

That is the Lesbian,

Gay,

Bisexual,

Transgender,

Non-Binary and Questioning,

Face discrimination

Indistinguishable to the daily news.

Read black and white,

Yet far and from,

In-between-

The "girl" with the tie,

The "boy" in the dress.

We are labels

And we all turn into questions,

Anyway-

We follow hashtags-

#Wontbeerased.

Somewhere amongst the rust,

Shake the dust-

The time has come.

We stand,

We fight,

We stand,

We fight.

Amongst prestigious white collars-

Men with muted grey hair

Dictating deceased values,

Exclaiming outdated beliefs-

Demanding our bodies no longer have the right

To exist.

The sharpest knife is worn with great pride.

The voices of the queer community must be heard

Above the riveting fear of existence,

A damn reason of belonging

Here,

For good reason.

Never let them shake you,

We're told.

We shout to share the freedom

For the right of recognition.

"Transgender people exist!"

"Transgender people deserve to live!"

To honor a name,

A body,

A soul-

To exist as he,

Born she-

Or maybe somewhere in between.

We must understand the fact

That we are all just humans, being.

For hopes,

For dreams-

To bask in the light of our kin.

Queer people are being silenced within public spaces

One by one,

We are eradicated,

Dismissed,

Outlawed,

Omitted,

Discouraged.

Time and time again

From jobs,

To housing,

From bathrooms,

To healthcare-

We are chastised,

Simply for who we are.

Who has the right to tell me who to love,

And how I must love in return?

Why shall we be prosecuted for our vibrancy,

Our uniqueness,

Our signature attributes.

Do we not withhold the ability

To defer uncivil white collars,

Prestigious egos-

Dictating where we can go-

Sit and squat,

Equality or shot-

This is no way to see,

Closed blinds never let the light in.

We stand,

We fight,

We stand,

We fight.

Bold,

Daring,

Un-binded.

The fond hearts of many

Collecting names through the morgue,

Bodies by the dozen-

Candlelit vigil.

28 transgender people found dead this year.

Never announced by the anchor

Nor does the headline ever read,

"Another tragedy of our Nation.

Another crude act of violence,

A hate crime against a transgender individual."

No commemoration

No name brought forth in honor,

Only silence amid the tragedy.

We stand,

We fight.

We stand,

We fight.

One can see no more than what is visible to the eye.

I kiss the lips of my muse,

And I press no harm to you.

Must you follow me with your eyes,

And snicker below your breath?

For the eyes that shut down

The rays that beam,

Quiet the ears that listen,

Silence the mouths that speak-

The lips that quiver the promise:

"Brave body,

You do belong."

No better than to blend in-

White walls,

Must I camouflage myself amongst them?

Somewhere between the door and the clasp,

You exterminate what has entered-

As if I were some kind of threat,

A lethal poison.

Un-natural being.

Body,

Where do I belong?

At war with ourselves

From the inside out,

Picking apart our very home

That houses our soul.

To stand between borderlines,

Between binaries,

Between radical, or "other,"

Identities-

This takes strength-

Courage against conviction.

We are not confined,

We are not affixed to political sword.

We are not a practical joke,

We are not a disbelief,

A mental case,

Or a disease-

We are more than our bodies.

"Brave body,

Stand tall."

These hinges feel weak,

These prongs so hallow-

Is my body truly to blame?

Is my body truly to blame?

Oh, dear heart

You've been singing this song,

Hiding out in corners

For quite too long-

"Oh, my light, I wish you'd stay,

Won't you stay just one more day?"

Scars on my chest where my breasts used to be,

Truth is, I never felt they were

Ever to be a part of me.

My body is no weapon,

Why must you thrust it to the sea?

Like the men,

Stark-

Open to swing,

Ever which way the birds sing.

Brave body,

Stand.

Do not conform.

We will not be eradicated

Out of existence,

We have always been here,

We have sacrificed ourselves-

Bare-boned and brave.

Through pitchforks and knives,

We have risen through the thorns.

Fighting our reflection

At every cost-

Piercing voices snicker,

"You don't belong here."

Brave body,

You do belong.

My burdens rot deep

Through thick soil and steel,

I've planted my roots here

To never appeal-

My body thy temple,

I kneel and I pray-

Forgiveness, my scars

How heavy you lay-

Crimson stained skin

Has healed-

And it has been hard pressed work-

The love for my body

Is still unraveling.

I am still aching,

Still growing,

Still learning,

Still yearning-

For understanding,

Underneath it all.

The 20th of November is reserved every year

Remembering transgender lives.

Lost in their battle-

Fighting for their truth,

Stoic in their armor,

Stolen from this world too soon.

This is a murder of the heart.

These weapons defeat our strength-

Through this over-zealous notion,

That exiling us is the answer-

We must rid this troubling rebellion,

This ruthless slaughter,

This irrevocable crime-

For it is inside, we need target.

"We will never cease to exist."

My tiny heart,

My fickle sword.

Brave body,

Stand Tall.

You were never to blame.

We must spend more time exchanging smiles with strangers,

Showing our teeth,

Omitting the grit.

The journey within us is somewhat the same.

A voyage of alignment,

Yearning for acceptance,

Security,

Compassion,

And freedom to exist,

Just as we are,

And just as we wish.

The boy with the dangly earring doesn't want to fight.

A gentle soul,

Collecting whispers through the wind.

Like a wound freshly salted,

Burn-

Brave body,

You can survive.