the fine purple line: a collection of poetry
as presented at the Sigma Tau Delta Convention, March 2023
I don’t want you to pick flowers for me
See you kill something beautiful
So you can domesticate it
I don’t want to watch you fall into the habits of your father
And his father before him
I love flowers
But I’d rather hike to find them
With you
And leave them
Where they can grow
Wild
*
It is okay to hold her
It is okay to want to hold her
Your love may instill new fear
It may be something you’d prefer to hide now
So you don’t regret it later
But her kiss may just be the courage you seek
It may be the only thing that sparks a match
Lights up your home
And changes what was once ghastly
Into beauty
When you are ready to ask
If you feel this yearning
On your own
*
She is stunning
The most beautiful kind of enigma
And I am unsure I am worthy
or willing
To fall into something
so terrifying
*
He gave life back to the river
That had been dormant
For far too long
*
He writes me stories
And poems
He listens
And speaks
Like every minute is a slow drizzle
Time never fleeting
He is gentle
And soft
He is beautiful
And kind
We take baths
And have wine nights
And I love him
Because he is okay with being feminine
Because he reminds me
of everything I love
about Women
*
He showed me what it was like to stand on the edge of something
And want to take in the view
Instead of jump off
*
There are few like her
She enters the room and everyone stares
A lovely, impatient disaster
Nonetheless, I crave her
The way she caresses light
The way her smile demands attention
While she passes through society
Whimsical and longing
For a love that may be damning
And still her eyes hold me
Daunting
Asking
For me to return the favor
*
our love scares those who will never understand
how it feels to love in doorways
to only hold each other in the daylight
streaming through our windows
to feel comforted by a body that mirrors your own
not in name
or religion
or pain
but in the way their body fits your anatomy
the way their experiences show you how much you’ve endured
and the stories they tell that sound a lot like your internal trials
so I will love who I love
and it may be a secret for now
but some day
my people
will be able to wear their love
outwardly
Proud.