Against the Rising Tide (A Poem)

By SAM NDLOVU

BORN IN A BODILY PRISON
Hated without reason
Living on a mission
To love with full conviction

This body is my affliction
Hence I make that decision
To enter this transition
And bring my soul to living

As I emerge from my cocoon
Like a bird freed from its caging
I hear the storms surrounding me
Society is raging

Their whispers turn to murmurs
And their murmurs turn to shouting
The pupae is a butterfly
But they surround it, doubting

They call me an imposter
And the waters rise in judgment
Never have I, felt so complete
Though I’ve been left abandoned

Their clenched fists pound my naked skin
They pound me like a drumbeat
Blow after blow, in this downpour
They cannot hear my heart beat

The cruelty and rising tide
So many have been shattered
Their only crime, to be themselves
For which they’re killed and battered

What is the crime in being myself?
That death should be my sentence
I only live to show my love
And long for your acceptance

I am Trans…and against the tide,
Of disapproval in their eyes
Still I rise….
Affirming truth…
I shall not choose,
To live a lie