Pulse, or the Ways Orlando Has Rewritten My Spirit.

Pulse is a name I will never forget.

Ricocheting bullets that could have ripped through my transgender flesh.

Of course, you blame it on the Muslims.

Sorry, it wasn't them. It was one asshole, product of his time, who wanted us dead.

Even though it's been forty-seven years since Stonewall.

Pulse is a name I will never forget.

Really, I thought I was safe because it's been forty-seven years.

Obviously I was wrong. No one is safe.

Such quiet lovely passion in my heart, and the natural complexity of humanity:

Enough to warrant a death sentence.

Pulse is a name I will never forget. It will

Riot in my heart, reach past my tender years to the core of me.

Oscillate between fear and terror.

Siblings, queer brothers and sisters and nonbinary loved ones,

Each of your names sings in my blood.

Pulse is a name I will never forget.

Remember it, scrawl it into your soul like Stonewall.

Obey the call of bravery and pride that echoes under your skin.

Such hatred will not change the fact of who I am.

Everyday I will exist. No one can stop us now.

Please listen. He cannot

Rob me of who I am. I am genderqueer.

Omit nothing - I am pansexual.

Scribble this down, I will not be denied.

Eliminate your ignorance, excise your

Prejudice, because that is what made him.

Really, all we want is to be accepted. This

Odyssey

Should be over by now.

Each of us are human. Stop killing us. Accept us as your equals.

Pulse is a name I will never forget.