Every right denied; every dream deferred
Every injustice and indignity endured
Is one more paper cut
They are cumulative
And deadly as any gun or knife

I want to tell y'all a story
About a man named McCrory
Made a law about who can use what *****
The rest of the world thinks he is dotty
This man is a bigot
Can you dig it?
North Carolina really wonders
How he could make so many blunders
But soon we will make him pay
When we throw him out on Election Day!

My life burns down 'round my ears
My pain a bright flame that sears
No way forward can I see
The world arrayed against me
I'm cast into the Abyss
Feels like there is no justice
Reality, darkest fear
I scream but no one can hear
When I feel adrift at sea
Farthest from my apogee
Up from the ashes I shall soar
Pain and sorrow will be no more
My life's mission is polemics
I rise, for I am the Phoenix!

Just for once, I want to be allowed to cry
To give voice to that shuddering sigh
To be truthful, not having to lie
When inside I feel like I could die
When my broken wings no longer can fly

Just for once, I want to be weak
And let the tears roll down my cheek
When I fail to find what I seek
When prospects all seem bleak
When some call me a freak

Just for once, I want to be held at night
And told everything will be all right
When I feel like giving up the fight
And my pain has no end in sight
When in the darkness I see no light

Just for once, I want him to kiss away the tears
Brought from the depths by my darkest fears
For him to whisper sweet words in my ears
To just hold me till the morning light nears
And take away the pain of all these years

Just for once, I want to let it all out
Instead of being forced to stay stout
I want to give voice to all my doubt
Tell him what it's really all about
And cry for once...instead of shout

They fomented hate for years
Now give us crocodile tears
But they care not
For my sisters and brothers
My family just “others.”

Nine and forty souls were lost
My transgender heart tempest-tossed
Their gentle souls
Cut down by a gunman’s hate
They did not deserve their fate

Carry on, we will and must
We will fight for what is just
Sadness today
But one day our hearts will sing
While they soar on angel’s wing

An echo in the wind
Screaming her every word
Wanting only to be heard
Is it really so absurd?

A girl without a home
Fights her internal war
Beaten, battered, bruised and sore
Is there really nothing more?

A spirit without form
Three and twenty years grown
In a body not her own
For what sin must she atone?

An actress on a stage
Her life has been so cursed
Will every day just get worse
Her every move rehearsed?

Heart yearning to be free
Her self for all to see
Or will she forever be
Just an echo in the wind?