Letter to a Queer Teenager

         …it breaks boundaries…
                    Edna O’Brien


Breaking past norms
Refusing to follow the crowd
Digging your own path
ain’t easy
You look behind and hardly
a soul follows
But just keep moving
past the words, past
the looks and past their shaming
Keep moving beyond the narrow
places and you’ll find
there are others
dressed in finery
be it a buzz cut and plaid shirts
or leather or a sequin dress
or button down shirt
or a dress and heels
Soon you’ll meet up
Just keep walking