I’m not asking you to throw away your beliefs. I’m not asking you to be in support of things you don’t agree with. I’m not asking for you to be someone you aren’t.

I’m just asking for you to accept it.

Are you so hard-headed? Are you so unreceptive? Are you so foolish? Are you so cruel?

Can you not accept people as they are?

What if I told men they couldn’t marry a woman? What if I told women they couldn’t marry a man? You would be mad, wouldn’t you?

No, you would be furious.

So why are you telling a man he can’t marry a man?

Why are you telling a woman she can’t marry a woman?

Oh, want another one?

Remember all those people you interigated because they didn’t identify with your version of an acceptable gender? Remember all those people you attacked because they weren’t feminine or masculine enough? Remember all those people you chose to avoid because they weren’t in your spectrum of normal?

Don’t even get me started on racial discimination.

Hey, white people, would you like to be targeted simply because your skin is light? I thought not. Why are you attacking people of color? Don’t have an answer? I thought so.

Those who disciminate against age? Get over yourselves. Since when were you all-knowing?

Those who discriminate against religion? You don’t have the keys to heaven, so don’t tell someone else to go to hell.

I could go on. I probably should go on. If you haven’t gotten my point by now, than you won’t anytime soon. Unless you change your way of thinking. Unless you try to see reason. Unless you try to surpress your hatred.

Unless you learn to accept people, regardless of race, age, gender, sexual orientation, upbringing and belief.

I’m not asking you to support it.

I’m not asking you to stand front and center at a Pride Parade. I’m not asking you to give speeches about the importance of every religion. I’m not asking you to kiss every human being on the cheek and express an all-encompassing love for them.

But I can expect you to accept it.

I can expect you to stand front and center to stand up for human rights. I can expect you to give speeches to promote equality. I can expect you to shake every human being’s hand and express your acceptance of them.

I’m not asking you to throw away your beliefs. I’m not asking you to be in support of things you don’t agree with. I’m not asking for you to be someone you aren’t.

I’m just asking for you to accept it.

Be soft-hearted. Be receptive. Be wise. Be kind.

Accept people as they are.

When Bombo and Nonnan decieded to reinvent themselves, I knew the world was over. The virus hit, and they wanted to change?

A grin spreads across my face beneath my mask. What fools.

The beach is crowded, of course, despite the possible dangers of the situaion. Many wear masks, many do not. Many are isolated, many are not.

A perfect oppritunity, I say.

Wearing a mask with suspect. Yielding a gun with no one's knowledge. Taking lives without repercussion. How could they pass up this chance? How could anyone not seize this simple oppritunity?

Bombo would be anrgy with me. Nonnan would pity me. They both would repimand me.

Such saints, now. Turning good-hearted and caring in the blink of an eye. Wanting to start a family.

I smile, slipping between two groups on the sand. They chatter, so aimlessly, without fear, spread across the beach as if they are comfortable.

It is too simple, really, how well I blend in. How easy this will be. Bombo and Nonnan are missing out. Truly.

I'm just going to the beach, after all. Just wearing a mask. Just social distancing. Just resting my hand on my gun. Just pulling out my weapon.

Just aiming to kill.

And as the first body falls, my mask barely conceals my satisfaction.

They say “a dream is a wish your heart makes”.

They say dreams are not reality.

They say dreams are unreachable.

They say dreams are for children.

I say dreams are brought to life through my mind.

I say dreams can one day be reality.

I say dreams will forever be reachable.

I say dreams are for all who will hear them.

They say I am blind.

I say I can see.

They say I can’t dream.

And I say “watch me”.

I can’t remember

Because you never speak

No beautiful words

On a Magical peak

You are glued to the ground

With your head held high

You can never win

When stuck in a tie

But who are you racing?

Only yourself

An endless war

On a broken shelf

So don’t tell me to look

Don’t tell me to see

No good will come

When you wait for me

So until that day

When you rise from the ground

That will be

How I stop turning around

Take a step up

I beg of you

Look to the skies

Become new

Now pay attention

And remember me

Because I was the girl

That set you free

And freedom is light

Take a chance now

Mistakes are crucial

I'll show you how

You will stumble

Fall

Trip

Fail

On your way up that Magical

New

Special

Mountain trail

Pay attention

Remember me

I was the girl

I set you free

I led you off the ground

I stopped the individual war

I united your heart and mind

And let you infer

Have fun in the mountain skies

On that Magical peak

And please, pay attention

And remember me

Love her

Love him

Remember

Blend in

Don’t hide

They say

But they meant

Stay away

They saw the sun

And shielded me

Singing

“You will never be”

They left it there

An empty phrase

For me to remember

The many ways

I fall up short

Every day

Love her

Love him

Remember

Blend in

How can I

Camouflage

With the differences

I wear on my face?

They tell me who to love

They tell me how I fail

They tell me who I am

They tell me what to wear

So I fall short

In countless ways

Because no one believed

And left me in a haze

They say to love her and

Love him

They remind me to

Blend in

But how can I

Camouflage

With differences

Written on my face?