Thank you for considering me
Part of the human species, someone
Who you might help up if they fell in the
Sidewalk (but only if they weren’t in your way).

You invoke my name like I’m a God but only
In your favor, when you need proof that you
Have the social capacity to stand someone different,
The ability to bestow upon me the honor of being “the queer friend.”

When I bite back I don’t draw blood, not like
You draw blood when you tell me I should try harder to
Look the part of the person that you saw on an hour documentary
That you refuse to admit pales in comparison to a lifetime.

Even when your burn is first degree you nurse
The chemicals in it, and by Monday I am laid out to dry
With all the other “queer friends” that didn’t make the cut,
Didn’t shut the **** up so you could grant your grace on

The gruesome instances that are my existence.