Goals of a Poet
of the Transgender variety
As The goal of a poet is to be remembered
For their poems to withstand that test of time
To be remembered and talked about
And exonerated
Maybe even lull kids to sleep in english classes while the teacher
Drones on about the tragic irony of the heroes love for the unclaimed maiden
But….that’s not what I want
My hopes in recording these words
Is that one day
My poems will not be needed
They will be forgotten
They will seem redundant
That people will question why I even wrote them
Ask “why were they necessary”
I hope, that one day,
Trans folk can exist in peace without having to scream day after day that we are worthy.
I am so tired of writing poems declaring my trans ness
So fucking sick of demanding rights not given to us
I am so beyond over screaming to ears that refuse to listen that I Am Human
I am running out of ways to convey the trauma inside caused by my own goddamn parents, people who claimed to have loved me
I’m at a loss for words on how to convey empathy to those who refuse to feel for anyone other than themselves
I do not have time to educate those who say they want to play devil’s advocate when in reality they want to spread their hatred
...
How do you convince your kidnapper not to kill you when he’s already loaded the gun and has it leveled between your eyes
How do you convince the preacher his teachings are the kidnapper, his bible the gun, his congregation the ropes he uses to keep you hostage
How can I speak life into the lifeless corpse of a being that is myself, how do I convince my brain that my body will on day match what it feels,
If only I live to see that day
How can I beg myself to put down the gun
When it’s already loaded
And leveled between my eyes.
About the Creator
Tavian Gonzalez
Former Nebraska poet, trying to find inspiration in the seas of corn. Now adjusting to the big city life in Atlanta GA. 20, going on 80.
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