Tripping over myself, bleeding myself out
trying to confine myself
to the confines of your categories, the cages
that barricade us in. I have rapidly outgrown them and
now they splinter skin.
When should I begin to cry out?
I have seen others leave it too late —
their bodies impaled by cold, hard metal
their organs pooling on the floor, their hearts’ still beat
once, twice,
they stop.
Is it possible to shrink? tweezer out the splinters
before I am spilt
pull out my own bones until I fit.
Hypocritical to myself I encourage the cries of relief
as the brave ones
break free —
Will I be consumed? Or will I break
out
sometimes the pressures of fitting into the categories that society tries to shove us into can get overwhelming whether that's: cliques in the school setting, family expectations, gender roles, racial stereotypes, sexuality stereotypes, even the trivial desires to fit a specific aesthetic. We are categorized in a multitude of different ways, and I often struggle to see where I fit in, who am I within and without these categories? Do they (the categories) help or hinder us? This poem is about the latter, the dangers of categories, stereotypes, and expectations that mold our existence.
