So many people are leaving
Leaving red states,
Leaving small towns,
Leaving dangerous laws,
Leaving… us.

Who’s us, you ask?
The trans kids who aren’t famous
The poor people who can’t move
The homeless youth
The bullied kids
The ones who need you most.

But…
If everyone seems to be leaving
And telling me to flee when I can’t
Leaving this state even more red
Red… blood stain red…
Then… what do we do?
Panic?
Hide?
If you just tell us that we leave or die,
Then…
What do we do?

I’m left,
Stuck,
Between a closet door and a gun,
Closet door locked behind me,
I’m too out to go back.

It’s like I’m at the bottom of a hole,
With people climbing ladders
And pulling them up behind themselves
Then telling us to climb up too,
Before walking away.

What am I supposed to do?
Don’t go back in the closet,
Don’t stay out of the closet…
You’re telling me I have a death sentence
And not helping.

I sometimes feel as though, at this point,
With both sides telling me
“You’re supposed to be dead”,
I should just…. give in.

But I wont… because, in a lot of ways,
We’re braver than you.
You, privileged and seemingly unaware.
We stay here and fight,
While you run.
We stay here and discuss,
Teach,
Love,
While you hide.
We refuse to leave
Because we are strong.
Trans youth,
Queer youth,
The walking dead who won’t quit.