Seriously

People take
themselves too
seriously.
I prefer to think of myself
as a joke.
My anxiety? -
dysphoria? stress?-
really
nothing at all;
certainly nothing serious
compared to the shit I've heard -
kids whose parents watch them fall
or strangle them with words...

Some of you will see this;
maybe feel compelled to say
that a problem is a problem -
that I shouldn't look sideways -
You're wrong. How fucking arrogant -
entitled - would I be
to see the bruises on their cheeks
and take me seriously?

Life is easy for me -
it's a breeze - people exist
who've had to learn the hard way
with a real, fast-moving fist
from the parents that they're born to -
that they're stuck with by their birth -
so I can deal with what I've got
since some of it's self worth.

I bitch about my gender,
but I'm writing in a suit
that my mother bought for me today;
resisting nail and tooth
got me safe, got me okay -
that's more than could be said
for kids I know whose families
abuse transgender heads.

You find your calm more easily
by loving what you breathe,
and since my house is not on fire,
this air's enough for me.

So,
no,
I won't do
anything
but laugh at being choked;
this life is all but serious
when living is a joke.


~

Age when written: 16