I beg for you to see us
Touch us -
Taste us -
We want to feel alive...desired...loved
Without labeling ourselves
As symbolic rainbows
Hemp necklaces
And thick sandals -
       These same labels that define you...
       Oppress me -
       Tell me it's not okay to listen to jazz and blues
       When Nina's voice is what keeps me from screaming
       FOLK IS MEANINGLESS TO ME!
       Sung by yet another
       (White) lesbian who
       Pretends our sexual orientations
       Will bond us somehow
       Forgetting
       In the process
       To get to know me
       To at least appreciate my choice in music
       Ballads that erupt from aching bellies
       Of a people who understood
       What it is like to be invisible
       Even when surrounded in these trendy (white) gay clubs -
       By people who say they love you...
I don't want to choose!
After reaching the end of many rainbows
Crying
Begging -
       I beg for you to see us
       Touch us -
       Taste us -
       We want to feel alive...desired...loved
       Without labeling ourselves
       As symbolic rainbows
       Hemp necklaces
       And thick sandals -
Speak of revolution
Speak of change
Speak of invisibility when you call my name
Think of my background
I live yours each day
Think
Think
Of my heart when I speak these words
I love you
       Never will I mention your hair
       (Locs are meant to grow long)
       Clothes
       (Business casual with a focus on business)
       Diet
       (Carnivore)
       Transportation
       (Environment destroyer and cannot afford any better)
       Community involvement
       (Currently none)
       Party stance
       (But I don't have energy to keep up with politics)
       Never will I mention those things that make you
       You...
Then -
You will comprehend
My invisibility
Day in
Day out
       You will understand my distaste for labels
       If
       You only think about it awhile
       Each time you open a conversation
       Forgetting I am there
       Forgetting most days I go through life invisible
       Whether I want to or not
       Even in social circles who cherish me
Forced to ponder
By my using your labels
I validate your existence
But in using them
I invalidate my own...