The Struggle

It's as though the whole world is against you,
Planting a thousand tiny barbs along
The path you choose to walk, mocking your true
And noble purpose, saying you are wrong
To take a chance, wrong to be different.
They weigh you down with burdens and with shame
And every day finds a new torment
That you fight and bind and finally tame.
For while your heart beats you will not be through
The fire inside you will forever burn.
So yes, the whole world may be against you,
That just means the world has a lot to learn.
     You will succeed when all is said and done
     Because you are a fucking champion.

July 17, 2008

When I was feral, I was set apart
Without the hold of civilization
I had no way to fill my empty heart.
No friends, no lovers, no congregation
To welcome me. And so I let them strap
A yoke upon my back and found rapport
With those who shared the space inside our trap
Hid my differences 'till they were no more.
The tamed me, like I told myself they should...
Until the day I saw towering flame
Created by those souls that understood
I can be close without being the same
     Now I flaunt my differences, unashamed.
     I'm not just feral, I have been untamed.

The Call

So about last night, let me just explain--
I was walking upside down across this
Filmstrip of E. Marie Saint in a plain
Fur coat and fig leaf, describing pure bliss
To an increasingly bright audience.
I wept openly at the pure beauty
Of a smile shared between strangers, left prints
Of my right pinky toe all over the
Grand statue of the old patriarchy
And around the time I was conversing
With two chalk gods the future said that we
Really needed to call you, coercing
     Me into singing "we should copulate"
     ...I'm sorry I woke you so very late.

Failing Grade

I'm swimming in the shallow end, trying
To keep my head above water. Kicking
And flailing in stark terror, near crying
Ad the idea that by simply sticking
My feet down I will touch the soft bottom
And save myself from a death by drowning.
But instead I continue to succumb
To the still, silent waters now crowning
My head. Oh all I want to do is scream
For help, to call out to the crowded shore
And find my friends forming a rescue team,
To prove that I am one that they adore.
     But I won't call, because I feel such shame.
     I did this to myself, to test my name.