If she holds his hand
She’s an itch, a bitch
Independent, she can’t
Not without a man
And if she is, she’s considered a lesbian
A goddess for one to gawk
With a head for one to mock
Not of worth
Unless naked
Or adorning a short, short skirt
Can’t she dress the ways she desires
With more than man that she aspires
Too much does her body inspire
The wrong things—what the man wants—the liar
If he holds his hand
Is he still a man?
Has he lost what makes him a brother
If he gives into the arms of another?
A being that must be strong
For anything but strong is wrong
He must not cry, he must not sob
He must not wear the woman’s garb
Beaten for being like her
Being awarded for beating her
Forced to live with tightened bounds
But his cries for help lack resound
Can he not live free from the whip that cracks?
From the voices that praise and despise his sex?
If they hold their hand
They are feared, abandoned
The letter overlooked
In the alphabetic set of oppressed crooks
A confusion to pick apart
A problem—an issue not for the faint of heart
For those who have lived with the chains of bi
That punished anyone that dared to try
Those that believed we could be more
More than what we and they have built at the core
Can they not choose what to feel?
Must we comply to the chains; must we kneel?
If we hold each other’s hands
And forget about if one is darker or lighter than
Perhaps then we will realize
That we are living short, piteous lives
Must we be unsatisfied
If we cannot lower one or hate before we die?
There comes a time when we must perceive
That we are not alone on this land or across the sea
Unified we can be better—together
Not in agreement, but with respect, with understanding, for one another
Chuaya Lo transferred to St. Cloud as a third year undergraduate. She greatly appreciates the diversity and emphasis on heading towards the goal of a better world of equal treatment and respect. In her free time, Chuaya enjoys writing fiction, watching anime, TV shows, playing video games, and drawing/writing graphic novels. She’s majoring in linguistics with a TESL minor, with the goal of teaching English in Japan.