By Alice Shannon
“Pick a side!”
“You’re not real!”
“You’re not valid!”
“You don’t make sense!”
“You don’t fit in!”
“Pick a side!”
“You’re not like me,
But you should be.”
“You’re too different!”
“You’re confused!”
“Pick a side!”
“Erase yourself!”
“Become a ghost!”
“Cease to exist!”
“Don’t live, just lie!”
“Pick a side!”
It’s not a joke.
It isn’t cute.
It isn’t funny.
It is violence.
When will you get it?
We will not laugh
When being attacked.
We don’t exist for you
We will not die for you.
When you say “Pick a side!”
I say
“It’s not a war.”
Alice Shannon is from Pennsylvania and a senior in college looking to get more involved in the queer community.