11/07/2025
I see your posts.
The skits.
The guy claiming he “identifies”
as something absurd —
just to mock people like me.
The comments cheer.
The likes climb.
Everyone’s laughing,
but it’s not funny when
you mean me.
You mean the name I claimed.
The voice I’m still learning to trust.
The pronouns that feel like home.
The days I barely make it out the door.
You say it’s “just a joke.”
But jokes like that
built the silence I grew up in.
Jokes like that
keep kids from coming out.
Jokes like that
are why I still flinch
when I walk past mirrors in public.
You think you’re being clever.
You think you’re just making a point.
But you’re really just proving
you’ve never had to fight for your name.
You’ve never had to explain your existence
to survive it.
I am not your bit.
I am not your meme.
I am not here to make your ignorance
comfortable.
I am soft and sharp.
I am still becoming.
I am still showing up —
even when the world sneers.
So laugh if you must.
But I’ll still be here,
beautifully
unapologetically
real.
-Ryn