where i am now

a poem by mk zariel

after Where I'm From by George Ella Lyons

I am from sit down and shut up
and suburban living rooms full of small talkers.
I am from the screaming of bored small children
(not because they're upset, just because they
are in a small town)
I am from the group chat
and even there I am unwanted.

And I am from anarchy and the
kind of transness that middle-aged
middle-school-esque people fear.
I'm from outside agitators
and the conflictual softness of the queer:
I'm from the Weelaunee Forest that I've never been to
solely because the whole world is there in spirit,
destroyed by hierarchy and still here & now & forever

I'm from believing that we will will win
but not knowing what winning even means
And when the rest of the world is erased
I am from the shining of queerness in your eyes
and the knowledge that we believe that we are here

& trans & still alive and that is enough.

---

mk zariel is a BashBack influenced trans anarchist organizer and media maker! zariel hosts the podcast THE CHILD AND ITS ENEMIES (about being in high school and organizing), writes for the Anarchist Review of Books, and writes the blog DEBATE ME BRO (a y2k style advice column about anarchy-101 stuff). zariel also organizes trans liberationist spaces across the great lakes region, performs poetry and theater, does graphic design, and vibes to classic queercore.