Prefer Not to Say
I am filling out yet another form
On which I am asked my gender
And then given only 3 options to choose from
Man, woman, and “prefer not to say”
I have seen it too many times
And as someone who is not a man
And is not a woman
But who has a hell of a lot to say
I will be
From this point forward
Formally requesting
No
I will be DEMANDING
That every form or survey that gives me an option
Of prefer not to say
Also gives me an option
Of prefer to shout
An option of
I have spent far too long being forced “not to say”
And I refuse to stay quiet any longer
Or better yet
A blank box
Give me a blank box
And I will write you an epic poem
About how I spent years trying to find myself
Only to realize I had been calling out the wrong name
I’ll find a way in 100 characters
To write a thesis
Examining theories of why
Even after countless hits
Each new gut punch of erasure
Somehow hurts as much as the first one did
Or remove the character limit
If finally accepting my gender taught me anything
It was that limiting myself
Is no way to live
So give me unlimited space
And let me write you a book
Titled “Enby Euphoria”
Filled with stories that will make you laugh
And cry
And understand why this matters
Because at the end of the day
That’s what I really want
For you to understand why this matters
To understand THAT this matters
And I will never get a chance to explain any of that to you
If you keep making me check a box
Next to the words
Prefer not to say
#poetry #poem
