Ramblings of a Transgirl

This is written in a mix of my own style and that of Shane Koyzan. I started it shortly after his concert, but have only (somewhat) completed it now.

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This one goes out to all the faggots, all the dykes, all the trannies, and to all the rest of us who just want to be ourselves in peace.

Safe spaces...
People talk about them like they're going out of style,
checking off the boxes next to catering options and seating arrangements.
From small friendly gatherings to high-powered conferences, we talk,
but we say nothing.
We do not acknowledge the alternative spaces,
the ones where fear courses through our veins like ice,
the ones where our heartbeats seem to be
the only friendly sound
for miles.

We speak of peace without acknowledging disaster.
And in those places where our fear lives,
those trapped find no solace in our words.
A few may see our light and find their way,
but the majority cannot escape so easily,
and our citadels of tolerance are as unbreachable
as the rules they can never fully obey.

Safe spaces...
We used to call them something else.
As I recall, they were 'refuges'.
Refuges for refugees.  A home for those who dared go no where else.
No one seems to remember that definition anymore.
And maybe,
we should start.

It's a wonderful and amazing thing,
hosting an event where we can be ourselves.
But it isn't really a refuge,
often,
barely a starting point.
As we build these places,
we would do well to remember that
few people who truly need them
can afford their entry price
Fewer still know that they exist.

I do not say they are evil.
I do not say they are vain.
I only say they are insufficient
to ward off all our pain.

Those who most desperately need us
who need to hear our words
will never in these places find them
and so we must endure
the darkness of the real,
the pain that never ends,
and in *those* places join them
and there become their friends.

Together, we can build them,
our spaces safe and sound,
but we must all together
else some be interred in ground.

So let us now be joyful,
and let us build anew,
but we must always 'member
to build for all them too.