trouble troubled

i am often troubled
by the ways
we get in trouble
when we challenge the status quo
as some of my sisters and brothers and genderqueer
folx
their mere existence is ‘troubling’
their presence is ‘unsettling’
their identities transgressing
spilling
flowing
dancing
across, through, and in-between
the lines
drawn arbitrarily
to confine rather than to align
us with one another
lift each other up
out and beyond
these narrowly drawn lines
so that we may all
move more freely
breathe more deeply
sing more lightly
live more fully
and dream more boldly

We must choose to love.
We must choose to love.
We must choose to love.