It fills my body
Fills my body so full of light
I am almost bursting at the seams with
Joy so infectious I cannot avoid it if I wanted to
And I don’t
Joy so big I cannot frown
Cannot cry tears of despair
If I were to cry the salty tears rolling down my face would be ones of
Pure happiness
Radiating from the people around me and seeping into my body
Connecting them to me and me to them like a magnet
And all around us is music
Blasting from speakers propped on our shoulders
Cascading off parade floats
Streaming out of restaurants lining the streets
Where we men wear heels taller than the Eiffel Tower
The black spikes clack clack against the pavement as we strut
Hands waving past our face left, right as we vogue
We women raise our hands above our heads when we dance
The hair under our arms doesn’t bother us
We think it’s beautiful
Hair short, hair long
We are women all the same
Neither man nor woman
Both at once
Started as one and became the other
Here we are free, we flow with the music as easily as our genders
Smiles glint around me, someone has thrown glitter in the air
Creating a pink mist that sparkles in the
Sunbeams that warm my face
His lips on their lips
Her lips on her lips
No one has a care in the world about those who don’t understand
We know we are safe here
Amongst each other
We don’t have time to judge like others might
We are too busy
Loving
Partying
Through the streets
The pride we have is a barrier against any hatred
It is proven through the rainbow flags we wave in the air
Their colors as ablaze as a beam from a lighthouse
The pride, the community defined by these colors has been
My guiding light
Through the storm of
Fear
On the days I’ve felt like I’ll never fit in
Guiding me through the days I am crippled by the prospect of rejection
A guiding hope through the days when an identity I did not choose
Pushed me to the corners of society
Into isolation
Into sadness
Through the storm
Until the clouds cleared and light was everywhere
Alone no more
How can I fear that people will reject me when
We
Stand so tall together, so proud to be
United by an
Identity we chose to love
Alone no more
We found our way home, to where we never doubt
We belong
