“I’ve been running”

Ever since I can remember, I’ve been running 

The iron hand of my father, never missing its mark

 I’ve been running

The words hurled at me from a culture I never asked for

I’ve been running

Veiling me in the fabric of a rhetoric that insists my existence is a mistake

I’ve been running

They wanted to cover me from head to toe, when I never asked to be covered 

I’ve been running 

At eighteen, I walked out of our home and never went back 

I’ve been running 

Into the arms of lovers again and again, lonely nights spent in rib cages that didn’t belong to me 

So I started running, towards myself, 

Somewhere along the way I found a pack of wolves, queer, savage, soft

They protected me like an injured pup. Circling until I built my own home, bone by bone.

Now maybe I’ll stop running.