As we sat in the car and the sun declined, the world turned to a peach hue and dimmed. The pouring rain from not only an hour before still felt as if it lingered in the air, sticking to my skin. A car joined us in the parking lot and started staring to the East, we both turned our gaze to align with theirs and saw a perfect rainbow accompanied by a faded second. And as we sat there and reflected on the topic of the human perseption of light, I found a moment to ask, "Can I kiss you so we can remember this moment forever?"
They replied, "of course".

Dress, makeup
Heels, leggings
Feminine

Too-big pants, no makeup
Oversized shirt, men's shoes
Masculine

Regular jeans, little makeup
Sweater, tennis shoes
No gender

Fancy shirt, tie
Skirt, heels
All gender

All these
But I'm
Still me

And that's okay

Long beautiful hair
Rosy cheeks
Red lips
Framed eyes

Who am I looking at
This Face in the Mirror
It's not mine

These amazing curves
This body to be envied
This amazing dress
These pale blue eyes

This Face in the Mirror

Where is home? Where is the place that I belong?
I stare into the mirror and see someone else
Long hair, makeup, wearing a dress
Why is my reflection a stranger?
Why isn't the place where my soul dwells
not a place I can call home?

Where is the place that I can go
when I need someone to rely on?
Where is the place where someone understands?
Where is the place where I don't have to hide?
A place where I can let my guard down,
and break the walls that surround my heart

When can I spread my wings?
When will I arrive
To a place where I can finally see myself  in each mirror I turn to
To a place where I belong?
To a place where I can call home?

I know the fight to get home
Is a long and hard one,
full of pain and sorrow
Full of tears and bitterness
Though I am in a dark tunnel now
I can see the light, at the end of the darkness
a place where I can truly be me
A place where no one stops and stares
and asks me what is wrong with me
A place where no one looks at me strangely
A place where I don't have to be scared

It's not my time to spread my wings yet
But when I do, I will touch the sky and be at the peak of my life
and finally...
be surrounded by people I can truly call a family
A place full of love
A place where I can truly be me
To a place I call home

What is it, how can we tell?
Are we forced into it, a cell?
A trapped enclosure, a set of ways
Dedicated to telling one how to be.

Not inherently bad,
But dangerous,
When we talk about
Dreaded gender.

Keep your codes for morals
Let me wear my skirt.
My dressed all lay dusty
Because I was afraid I would be
Looked at
As lesser.

No longer,
For I am truly,
Not akin to a single
Form of gender.

The one true way
That of self-realization
Comes from the acknowledgement
That I am me
Male, female, none, both.
I am Bede.

There is this person
with electric blue hair
who I am constantly
intrigued by.

Look at their skin;
like porcelain, it's so
pale
and icy cold.

Their eyes speak to my heart--
the green and brown
moving in harmony
and making me smile.

They always have
black eye shadow around
these brown and green irises;
so bold.

I can't tell if they're a boy
or a girl--
maybe they're both
or neither.

They almost never speak
But their voice moves
smooth like milk
And their laugh is contagious.

But underneath their fake smiles
I know their secret--
The red marks that cover their skin
The scars that speak for themselves.

Mixing ***** and juices,
On Tuesday morning, Monday night,
The parents are asleep.
The stars are so bright.

My body is a temple,
You're **** right.
If it feels good enough,
I'll respect it tonight.

Bandage my chest,
Hurts my ribcage,
I’m a ******* kid,
Shouldn't have to be brave.

You should've been a brother,
Should've got the name right,
Should've been her son,
Instead I'm drinking tonight.

A life without gender.
Giving me my freedom that was taken.
End to my imprisonment by gender roles.
No I am not mistaken.
Don't ask me if I'm a girl or a boy.
Either is just not me.
Rather I am a person, a human being that is free.