Poem by Halle Preneta — 4/15/23
Why do you keep knives to cut out our throats?
The scars you gave us lay inscripted in our arms, inside our souls.
They are the script we use around people like you.
“Yea, she’s just my … friend. Good, good friend … “
“Oh, they’re just my favorite colors! Not anything else at all!”
“No, I just really like wearing khakis and polo shirts. Means nothing!”
A cross stabs into the hands of a young queer girl every time you claim a God wants her to shape shift into something she isn’t;
Transform, strangle, fester.
We will not change for you
who want to rip our vocal chords out of our throats.
We will not change for you
who slaughter us like we are animals
even though with your sharp teeth and sharp claws and sharp hearts,
you’re the ones who are the animals
cause you’re the ones who want to murder love,
the one thing that makes us human.
That connects us together.
That’s allowed you to exist.
What is our nation other than a bundle of hatred hiding behind the facade of freedom?
Our youth are on fire.
My people are on fire.
Our world is on fire.
Queer people are the electricity that keeps this country moving forward
so what will you do when the electricity has gone out
because of you?
