we have been taught
to check boxes to
describe our beings
it tricks us into thinking
our identities can
be singular in meaning
but the truth is
we can be everything
sweaty wild dancefloor beasts
quiet scrawling tea-sippers
angry banner-waving marchers
sometimes who we seem to be
and who we really are
seem to be at war
in the end
what really matters
is whether we have
honored the fire
in our hearts
whether we allow it
to light the world around us
or suffocate it in a single place.
narinda heng 