You Deserved Better

I can’t help but feel it in my core

this maddening anger bubbling in my soul

to fight for one another, for each other

no matter the toll it takes

This urge to scream and scream

until my eyes are bloody red

until they see my pain like they caused theirs

You’ll never understand what it means

to be in our shoes

to be scared to walk in a room

you’ve never been in before

worried you’ll catch the gaze

of eyes who only want your demise

of people who don’t believe

you’re part of their people too

—

I’m fuming with rage

at another case

another child

another human

dead from hate

buried in the ground

because of the way they are

the clothes they wear

the love they swear

they’ll keep forever

—

When will they see

when will they learn

you can’t go around murdering

innocent people because you’re threatened

or scared or mean or completely stupid

You aren’t God

your God would be disappointed

in the way you strut around

thinking you’re all that

while blood pools at your feet

and the death toll grows higher

and we cry into our pillows at night

terrified of the world they live in

of the streets they walk on

of the schools the attend

You’ll never know this kind of fight

You’ll never know this way of life

it’s too good for you

you don’t deserve acceptance

You don’t deserve a life

if you’re willing to take one

all out of spite …

—

(This is dedicated to all the trans kids, non binary kids, gay kids, and any kid part of the LGBTQ+ community that has ever been beaten, harassed, or bullied for the way that you are. You are valued, you are loved, and one day we will have justice.)