Words Fail

People Like Us

How many people like me, walk among the rest?

Amidst the 'normal',

The ones who don't have to

Drive themselves to the brink of their sanity,

Worrying over what's right or wrong to do in public,

Based off a list of norms, we had no say in.

It's living in a world of heteronormativity.

They are the people who can pass by a stranger

Without the hair on their arms sticking up like needles,

Without their hearts pounding hard against their chests

In fear

And in anxiety.

Because two girls shouldn't hold hands.

Not unless it's in the shelter of the ir home

Where no one has to feel the burden

Of their 'lifestyle' choices.

Because people like me were taught

It was better to hide in a metaphorical closet

Than make nameless faces uncomfortable.

And when their eyes

Begin to criticize

You'll begin to realize

That even those who are silent

Like an inaudible exchange of whispers and glances

Will have their reservations

Based solely off their observations

And predispositions.

.

And if it's not unspoken

You'll quickly be awoken

By the discriminatory words

They chuck relentlessly at us

Intended to break us and bend us to their will,

Like putty in their hands

They'll try to mold us and conform us

Into their precious, mass produced

Silicone dolls.

And they do this with a sense of duty and pride.

It's a mission they've bestowed upon themselves,

And they wear it proudly like a badge or a crown.

But I refuse to bend

And bow my head

Just to put on another facade

And follows rules that we're forced to obey

And have no say.

I'm guessin' my cooperation would be

Appreciated

Because I'm a minority

And in a democracy the majority

Overcomes, overrules, and conquers.

We're expected to be like the rest

And to want to be too.

I bet it'd be easier

To go on pretending