my reply to the icebreaker question we all know ur going to ask

i’d like to be invisible

to fill a spot at the dining room table

to listen to stories and laugh when they laugh

but without the prying,

the awkward second-cousin game of catch-up

to be the shadow in the corner

just to be close to my people,

to revel in the security of togetherness

without the humiliation of

having to make myself known

to take another sip of milk tea,

another spoonful of apple jacks

without even a thought

about the body society once told me

i needed to be considered beautiful

to kiss you out of the blue

eliminate the possibility of “no”

but possibly eliminating the possibility of love

at the same time