POETRY > Sonnet 3 - Non-binary-run world (Petrarchan sonnet)
Non-binary-run world (Petrarchan sonnet)
I go into cis spaces and I pass
it hasn't always been this way you know
there have been times that I've been filled with woe
misgendered at a gig or at a class.
Stones thrown by cis folks saying it's a farce
we make a fuss and let our feelings show,
when they're obsessed with what we've down below
- revealing that most houses are just glass.
While laws should change, it's tough to fight the fear
that people feel to make them hate this deep.
I educate though I came here for fun
’cos life keeps teaching when you're trans and queer.
I study into night, (while others sleep)
daydreaming of a world non-bine'ry* run.
NOTES:
*Pronounce “bine-ry” (e.g. to rhyme with “shine” “we) for the syllabic count in this poem.
This is a Petrarchan Sonnet and the rhyme scheme I used was: abba abba cde cde
Poem written on May 16th, 2020.
Non-binary people don’t identify as male or female, and may see themselves are identifying somewhere in between male and female, neither or both. I feel strongly about standing for trans rights in social cis spaces because transphobic hate crime has led to deaths, and the most vulnerable group are transfeminine people.
Recently, I was in a social setting where I heard cis people joke about trans people. I felt angry and I wanted them to know this, in the same way that I might feel the urge to let them know if something they said amused or delighted me a lot. I’m not so sure I was understood, but I wanted to let people to think about how similar judgments on appearances have caused trans people to be attacked.
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