Photo of moon by Shane Patterson
it has come to my attention that we don't exist
we the colourful
the fluid
the bold
the open
the rule benders
breakers of the binary
cis and transgender
they can't shake the pride of we
who know what it's like to touch god
as we build
destroy
and re-create ourselves endlessly
we weren't built for your boxes
making mockeries of your labels
the extremes
the in between
the wild and the soft of us
the loud and the boisterous
and the quiet and the shy of us
we are queer
and we’ve been here
but so many never see us
watching the world through rosed glass
they don't recognize us as
their doctors, lawyers, and politicians
their coworkers, street vendors, and musicians
cashiers, managers, teachers, friends
brothers, sisters, cousins, parents
we're not real, you see
if we've never been seen
"jamaicans can't be gay" I was told
and some still believe
we aren't walking the same streets
that we're only on tv
the matrix is a closet
we're just the ones who've broken free
we're not real if they don't see us
visibility is key