Dare to exist

A hush
upon entrance.
A chill
creeps at a prickly crawl.

Stares and murmurs,
chuckles and slurs,
bated breaths swiping
the surface of my caramel skin,
seeping from scowling maws
like predatory vipers,
hissing,
hissing,
hissing,
thirsting to draw blood,
hoping for a taste
of copper fear.

I face forward.
I smirk knowingly
at ghosts of Others past.
I breathe,
with the audacity to believe
your air is also mine.
I cut through,
hot blade in a quiet duel
with your cold steel.

"Queer," you sneer.

How you must seethe,
and how my smile is strengthened,
because

I persist.

Indeed,
I dare to exist.