By Nina Dixon
After all this time
It’s still not mine
Labels harshly defined
Are just creating more lines
More walls, more calls
As I walk towards the stalls
That separates us from them all
That protects us from the fall
From trying to find the others
While still hiding from each other
While shaming our brothers
While still asking our mothers
If it’s okay
To be who we say
Not just some character we play
Until the cameras go away
But to show & be seen
By any & all means
To make it a dream
Come true on both screens
When we lift the veil
Where it’s both, heads & tails
More freedom, less jail
Self imprisoned, passed or failed
The test that means less
If they’re stressed or pressed
About how you’ve dressed
According to their definition of blessed
Because what’s real is how you feel
Beneath the layers that you peel
Away from whatever keeps you sealed
Shut from the joy that they steal
The joy you freely give away
Trading spaces day by day
Where you reclaim it & bravely say
I am me & that’s okay
Nina is an integrative therapist that facilitates a LGBTQ+ Youth Group and Parent Support Circle, also identifying as bisexual. She believes self-love is the foundation of all of our relationships, which means loving ourselves for who we are, regardless of our sexuality and extending that compassion outwardly to others.