By Tonight.
My country does not love me
Tonight
I know my country never did
But tonight
I will love the boy next to me,
My mother who sent me a text this morning
The woman who hugged me as I broke down,
And everyone else I can fill in the spaces
Between my heartbeats
Tonight
I am told I can’t feel
But Tonight
I can feel the chill of the untouched parts of my bed sheets
The tightness in my chest and throat
The burning in the back of my eyes
Tonight
I am told I am powerless
But tonight
I still have enough power to grip onto my pillow,
I still have enough power to scream,
Create muffled echoes that cause the cotton and feathers to ricochet inside the sheets
I still have enough power
To stare right at everything that hates me through a bright screen
Or silence their voices, let their expressions fade to black
With a click
I still love.
I still feel.
I still have power.
And this is only for one night.
Imagine what I can do
In two nights
In two months
In two years
In two decades
Imagine what we can do