My parents and I had a discussion recently about gender. Our debate ended in high strung, sweeping generalizations from my father and stunned silence on my end. After all, my father knows I have a blog where I’m openly nonbinary, and I thought he could acknowledge that I don’t need to classify myself as only “woman” just because of my genitals. I know that it’s a bit late for pride month, but honestly nonbinary and transgender folks should be able to thrive and celebrate all year long, so here’s a poem on acceptance of gender non-conforming ideas.
To my transphobic father
The water is rising
it’s almost here
speaking to you in a voice
you don’t want to hear
after all, a voice that sounds queer
might grate against your ear
but if you stop nagging the voice
and start to mark the feeling
you may find the vibrations
even give you a sense of easing
if you start to hum agreeing
with just the bare feeling
you may glean the words
have a message of healing
and if you catch the words, well
you’re right on top of meaning
maybe then you’ll see, it
goes along with good reasoning
if you’ve got the meaning
it may start a train of thinking
that runs a race of empathy
and plants a seed of believing
that your time to speak is done now
it’s time to start conceding
Instead of a song this time, here are some instagram reels to inspire acceptance of nonbinary people. Alok Vaid-Menon (their website here) is one of my favorite influencers, and they’ve got such a concise and straightforward way of speaking that cuts right to the heart. Please enjoy watching them and maybe even absorb a little passion / joy / hope / love.
One response to “High Tide / High Time”
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