Dysphoria

A bearded young man with long hair, tan pants and lined coat, sits on a brick-paved walkway, holding a blue and white striped paper cup, and a cardboard sign with the inscription 'Homeless and hungry.' People in winter clothing walk past.

“It is what it is.” (thoughts)

“It is what it is” applies to:

…a rainy day.
…when you forget the lyrics to a song.
…getting a hole in your sock.

burning orange candles close up (Image: Ivan Kmit)

TDOR (speech)

We are still unable to protect ourselves
and our trans siblings from the destructive power of propaganda, bigotry, hatred, and violence that are still part
of daily life for marginalized communities around the world.

[continue]. . .

Teen girl behind barbed wired fence (Image: Wavebreakmedia Ltd.)

How You Made Me Feel (a poem)

Constantly, you made me question myself.
Relentlessly, you told me I was not enough.

[continue]. . .

Library reading room. Empty wooden swivel chair at wooden library table with book open on the table. Glasses on top of book. Wooden bookcases with blurred bindings of colorful books behind table and chair. A steak knife lies on the floor nearby.

“I remember” (a poem)

TW: Suicide

I feel my chest heave as I walk through the kitchen.
Heavy breath, warm and wet.
My pace deliberate, pronounced.

Cold steel grazes my neck, awakening memories.

[continue]. . .

A grey wolf peeks out from behind a birch tree.

Sometimes… (article)

Sometimes I feel like a sheep in wolves clothing.

In our formative years,
we all change certain aspects of our behavior
in order to better fit in with others.
We all compromise in different ways
so we can ease tension with those around us.
We give up parts of ourselves,
thinking it will make things easier.
It seldom does.

(640 words)

[continue]. . .

A transgender person, experiencing gender dysphoria, looks into a tall, wood-framed mirror.

Fit (a poem)

I don’t fit this skin.
I don’t fit this world

[continue]. . .

Fourth of July fireworks over an apartment building near Sandy Springs.

A Flood (thoughts)

Awakened by fireworks at 1:30AM.
Disoriented I get up to see
why there are explosions
outside our back door.
Standing there looking out the bathroom window,
it hits me.
A flood of realization.

[continue]. . .