his family says they'd accept him
it’s scrawled in permanent marker across their smiling faces
what will the neighbors think?
blood is thicker than water, but they’re parched

but the monster under the bed is
those whispering thoughts
he knows they'd all have
engrained into their pre-dispositions
of a cookie-cutter America

the kids at school
the snickers and sharp talk
protected by the armor of his back being turned
up front labeling
"insert your coin and I'll spit out acceptance, only .25"

their drooping faces sewed into smiles
with the thread of a rainbow flag

more and more individuals
are made to waltz
to the familiar song of being trapped

the door to his closet is jammed
he’s bisexual, not bi-species

your warped limbs
dance under the sway of your breath
your notched fingers
wind around the minerals of your toes
you are light
and your capillary rivers
pulse with nothing grander than life

you are an everlasting cycle of rebirth
your heart is heavy
and although you tremble
benevolence remains in your eaves

mother,
you are taken for granted
but your tidepool eyes
and mossy complexion
are the work of nothing less
than the waves of the cosmos

Night fell around me
like a wounded animal
in a garden of statues
closing their eyes,
not dreaming,

they are blinded
by the moon
as it cruised by
like a ghost ship,
or a sack of ashes,

the only sound
the quiet humming
of sleeping souls

and a shovel
clearing ground
for digging
the deepest dark hole.