Emotions

My politically charged slam poetry piece

Emotions are feelings after all.
Just feelings.
And your feelings are valid of course,
until they’re not.

My name is Ashley and my feelings have lead me here.
I know what I am and what I must do.
I am a woman, but I am also trans.
And while my feelings are valid,
Sometimes they’re not.

If I do not obey beauty standards,
If I haven’t shaved,
If I speak in a lower voice,
I may no longer be valid.

And so I wake up and get ready for the day to pretend to be a woman,
For this is what womanhood is right?

Your feelings are valid.
Until they’re not.

So if my feelings are real,
Than how am I not?
How am I not the woman that I see in the mirror?
Or do I not see her anymore?

Do I become liquid?
Am I up for your debate?
Who owns me?
Is it you?

Oh you don’t look trans.
You’re so pretty for a trans person.

My feelings are valid,
Until their not.

The greatest corruption of feminism is the incision of exclusion.
Trans exclusionary radical feminists,

All women are equal,
Until they’re not.

I
do
not
bleed.

But I do.
It doesn’t come from between my legs but through my eyes.
I shed tears every night because I am afraid.

I am afraid I’ll never find love.
I am afraid I’ll never be safe.
I am afraid the wrong person will find out,
I am afraid I will be killed.

Who will come to my rescue?
I am just a tranny.
A man in a dress,
The butt of your favorite joke.

All feelings are valid,
Until they’re not.

Who am I to say what I am,
They say I shouldn’t exist.
And so I won’t,
Because they will erase me.

There is no history of trans people,
but this is not new,
We were meant to be forgotten,
Smudged out and lost.

My people lose legal protections every day.
We have become the scapegoat for a political act.

Politicians can win the vote by removing our rights,
Who cares! They are less than 1%,

We have no voice.
I have no voice?

I used to think I had no voice,
That my words were not real,

But All feelings are valid,
And perhaps theirs are not.