(a tribute to becky albertalli)

i learnt english at sea,
traded my tongue
for salt and compass,
but it was becky
who brought me back to land —
when a boy fell in love
with another boy,
and his words dared me
to claim that same love
as my own.

her book lived on my nightstand,
spine worn to a gentle curve,
sentences humming in my head
until they belonged to me
as much as they belonged to her.

she offered me the strength
to feel less ashamed
of being different,
gave me a fire that burned
through the blame
i was ready to bear myself.

she gifted me with confidence
to leave my homeland
my heart outgrew,
and find my way to a place
where love was not a secret —
a shore worth swimming to.

Rules can be a taking of love for one,
Ideas created by he on spread
Few have realized it can be such fun
Different is not a word we should dread
For no love is wrong even two the same
Happiness looking disparate on all
There is but only a true way to aim
One is short as the other is some tall
A time be amused with who has to choose
when stood at the turn of a hot and warm
How it is simply unfair just to lose
And to this scheme we are not to conform
Us being here should have meant to be free
Content on this world, we shouldn't have to plea
~
Lee Of 2022

I ducked their axe
But not the slap
The belt strap
And again and again
The razorblade
To my inner thigh
Of little maps
Flesh wounds
Like roses
I built hot memories
Warm enclosures.
Now my body
Is safe
Though not from their faith
And again and again
I am still caged
But now with longer spells
Of sunshine awake.

We all stand beneath the same sun’s glow,
Its light unites us, high and low.
No matter where our worlds may be,
In every heart, equality.

Differences fade in morning’s light,
No need for shadows in our sight.
For under the sun, we’re all the same,
Equal in hope, in love, in name.

Why is peace a dream so far away,
When the sun’s rays could unite our day?
Perhaps our worlds are too far apart,
Burning in different fires of the heart.

But if we look beyond the night,
And see the sun’s eternal light,
We’d realize that all are one,
Beneath the same unending sun.

I’m afraid the masquerade is over;
You must pack your bags and leave now.
Don’t be sad — take it as closure;
They still think they’re holier than thou.

The rich return to their old ways,
Their customs brittle, cold, and strange.
They’ll tell you once again, "Eat cake," —
A stubborn mindset you cannot change.

The mask falls off along with the glamor;
Nothing remains but broken chandeliers.
The empty halls strike your face like a hammer,
And you long for the gateau and beer.

Outside, it’s a bitter winter,
And your faith threatens to disappear.
But the masquerade won’t let you reenter —
You hear a commotion drawing near.

Two people fighting, blinded by beliefs,
Living side by side in the same town too.
When will they see — it’s not a left or right breach,
But a battle of the top against the few?

When we were leaving our place
I turned back for a moment,
I wanted to see it one last time.
The forest pulsing with dense life.

The first whisper
of Ambrorella’s blooming,
bitter fruit plucked
when we were hungry.

It was then I felt, for the last time
the false peace
of a sated animal.

I closed my eyes
and when I opened them
nothing was the same as before.

I remember,
You held my hand.
I was never just your rib,
I have always been your equal.

You didn’t resent me
for not wanting to live in illusion.
And so, our awareness began to grow.

I took the fruit
and I wasn’t the reason for our fall,
we just saw the world as it is.

I feel complete,
despite the pain that moved through my body
and still, it remains.
When all seems to die or to be born
I carry the warm living light.