Exiled
You expect me to Be kind, abandon My beliefs in what our Voices sing for In the ring of violent hatred, Scored for soft surrender, Leave truth at home to breathe, Step into my front yard, Mutate into a polite being In the face of validated bigotry. I don't. I don't. A public execution of connection Because I didn't cower, Named and confronted what shouldn't be, Exiled from this mob Of scared, silent women Confused for neighborly, Crusaders of peace For the ones who harm While standing in their Christianity, I stand alone in my integrity, I am exiled for my honesty, Said I was never here to make space For your hostility As you stoke flames of hate and animosity. Led by one I trusted, vigilante hunters rise, I call out She, Women who desire safety to live comfortably In the light of harmful beliefs, The way they measure quality Based on dangerous ways of thinking— I don't. I don't fold myself in When confronted by your accusations Of how I should act In the face of a remark missing Any sense of compassion or inclusivity, I stand in my power, Stand by my values about people Who love and desire to live, Fighting for their identities you cannot comprehend, You seek with torches and something foul, Like your notion you are entitled To cast out anyone you hate, Vow to castrate democracy In the same breath. Notices fill text threads Of fiction of my fire, My voice that didn't shake When I defied everything You were too scared to become, A hazing ritual to prove your alliance By burning me at the stake In the cul de sac in front of my home. I embody courage you reshape To fit into a box that tolerates This fanaticism that has no place— I walk alone. I let it be known I will not conform for your comfort Because you haven't learned How to stand apart When it matters most, There are those who exist Without fracturing their Self. I am too big in my knowing To perform in this body You exile.