Art Credit: https://www.deviantart.com/oxhopesshatterxo/art/Burning-Monk-58920568

*Poem inspired by the burning monk but relating it to my passion for helping the queer community. Please note that I will not harm myself in any way, shape, or form; this is just powerful imagery and words based on Michelle Murray Yang reading.

I would strike the match myself.

Not because I wanted to disappear,
but because I am so tired
of watching people I love
be asked to make themselves smaller
just to survive.

I would walk into the flames
if it meant you could walk down the street
holding the hand of the person you love
without looking over your shoulder.

If it meant a child could tell their parents
who they really are
without rehearsing the words a hundred times
or wondering if they would still be loved
when the sentence was finished.

If it meant trans people could exist
without having their bodies,
their names,
their identities
turned into public debates.

If it meant queer teenagers
would grow old enough
to become everything
they were told they couldn’t be.

Then let the fire come.

When it does, will it then be enough?