Open Destiny

Where most say

The end is

That's where I

Might begin

I want to see

What happens next

After the credits

Roll

But there's no hope

For that scope

When happy endings

Are what's in

So let us find

What we need

Elsewhere

Let us create

Our own space

Let's write our own

Damn stories

Where endings

Once took place

Is she likable?

This anti-hero?

This wholly human

Flawed woman?

Is she palatable?

This character?

This person

We are meant to root for?

Raised to be

Likable

In order to

Secure our safety

In order to 

Ensure our places

In this 

Society

She does not 

Have to be

Likable

At all

In order to be

Depicted

And loved

And seen.

Let's get

Tactilely grounded

Let us

Intelligently

Disobey.

Let us

Listen

To ourselves

And 

Embrace

All of who we are.

 Tired

Take me back to the 

Shire

Wired

By what is

Required

Mired

In everything

Dire

Liar --

What she made 

Us into

Choirs

Of liars

In frying 

Pan fires --

Taking our safety 

Tires

So enamored

By her

Every goddamn

Fiber

Of the

Cyber

Nightmare

We are 

Living.

 How can you

Blame us

And shame us

And then claim us

You're not in our 

Corner

So don't claim to

Be there

You're not

Our ally

So don't try

To pretend

We see right through you

To the abuse you

Keep right on 

Perpetuating

We are screaming

Stop

But you refuse

To learn

I fear for 

My community

Who will be harmed

Because of this

Because of what you

Missed

Because you never

Bothered

To get the jist

Of this,

Or of us,

Or of anything.

 I can't even tell you

How much you are 

Hurting

How much

You are

Endangering

How much 

You are 

Angering

Us.

We are human beings

Who feel pain

And need things

Who are threatened

And abused

And settle

Repeatedly 

For 

So

Little.

Not because 

We are happy to

But because

We are forced.

We have 

No 

Damn choice.

No agency

No power.

We are

At the mercy

Of others

Just hoping

That we will be

Afforded dignity.

What you can't see

Is us finding community

It's adapting beautifully

It's overcoming

Your shit

Repeatedly.

Because we'll adapt

We'll keep coming back,

And calling you out,

Try to hold us back.

You can't break us.

We are here.

We are always

Going to be 

Right

Damn

Here.

 Do you see this?

What you are helping happen

With what you're putting out there

With the tropes you are entrenching

Do you hear us?

The people you are harming

With the ways you're always arming

Others against us?

Do you care?

That this is night whatever

That we are emotionally laboring

So others are alerted

To what this really is?

How can you claim it?

That the kids you write about

Are amazing

When every word about them

Harms their entire well-being?

Notice.

Good God.

Please notice

The harm you're doing

Before it is too late.

(As it may already be.)

Creating safety

Feeling seen

In these spaces

We have been

Some we haven't

That's okay

To hear you talk

Takes us away.

To a place and 

To a safety

We have 

Rarely felt.

To feel so loved

And valued now

Our hearts may

Truly melt.

I'm falling now

Into the chasm

Into this ditch

Off this cliff

You've created.

With your words 

So hideous

Your idea of us

So insidious

We feel your hatred.

We know it's there

It's obvious

In the words you choose

In the voice you give us

Forgive us

If we're not elated.

We can't take much more

Of this soul-sucking rep

The secret of your derision

Is one so ill-kept.

The ableism 

Goes on

And on

And on

Unabated.

 Why does

Your version

Of us --

The dehumanizing 

Blatantly

Surmising

Who we are

It's unsurprising

Why 

Does this

Persist?

Because 

The preference --

For some odd reason --

Is to read 

The tropes.

Entangling us

In the toxic

Ropes --

The stories

They tell

That help

Them cope.

It allows them

To take heart --

The hate

The burdensome

Takes

That keep us

Apart.

It should come
As no surprise
That those who
Should love
Instead despise...

But

Can you love
What you're destroying
What you're enjoying
What's annoying
You today?

Can you love
The one you're hating
No debating
You're debasing
Them this way.

But love doesn't come
With a side
Of despising
Of reprising wrongs
Of surmising thoughts.

Love doesn't come
With a side
Of hating
With ignoring
With debate
And debasing
With threats replacing...

What's there instead?

That's called
Abuse.

Where we're oft
Trapped
And can't
Be loosed.

So don't lie and
Call your
Actions love
When other words
Fit like a glove.

Your life
Doesn't have to
Be perfect
For you to
Be proud --

So sayeth
Naya Rivera

In fact
She said
The less perfect
It is --
The more proud
You can be.

So I am --
And I'll be.

My wheelchair
Is my body
So Alice Sheppard
Said

These words
Strike me
Rise in me
Make sense to me
Because
I still have legs
(The ungendered kind)
With me

My wheelchair
Is my body

Don't touch it
Unless I trust you
Don't push me
Unless I know you

It supports me
It moves me
It frees me

My wheelchair
Is my body...
Best words
I've ever read.

Step -- drop

We are bent
Until we break

(Nothing beyond
What you can take.)

Step -- drop

We don't choose
And so we quake.

(Learning steps
You want to make.)

Step -- drop

Consent is never
A thing employed.

(Studied.  Asked.
Advised.  Enjoyed.)

Step -- drop

Teased, Denied
Rejected, Small.

(Respected.  Seen.
Cared for.  Calm.)

Step -- drop

Watch as
We fall.

(Kindness
A balm.)

Step -- drop

Independence
Psalms.

(Help
Without qualms.)

We found eight
More
Books
Today.

The most
Perfect use
Of a $25
Gift card--

Especially
A grand use
Of birthday
Resources

When we
Are
Thirty-nine.

Found our
Childhood
Stuffed in a
Bag

Runaway things
College things
Vanished
Things

But
Good news!
Sea City,
Here we come!

I see a family
New and not
So new at all
After all

There are things
I love
And long for
Things
That cannot
Be ignored

Inspiration
Found in takes
In spaces
In lines
In these scenes

Where we belonged
And had the
Means
To see ourselves
Redeemed

Where does your
Bravery live?
Behind layers
Of fear?

Behind
Sweaters
And braids?

Does it
Live behind
Tears?

It's okay--
It's still here--
And so, too,
Are you

To keep saying
And doing things
Brave souls
Can do.

Time spent well
Reading
Everything
At all
Ever.

Perfectly
Spent
Time.

Fun and
Fond memories

From so
Long ago

And yet
It feels

Like yesterday
The way

I can slip
Into this

Second skin
And find

Them waiting
Within.

These seven
Friends

From my
Childhood