I Am Not A Burden

I put my pants on one leg at a time. I wait in long grocery lines. I buy too much ice cream when its on sale. I can never get my whole face mask to dry so I can peel it off easily. I lose track of time when I’m painting. I pre-order video games if I’m really excited for them. Sometimes I forget about my homework assignments. I’ve eaten pizza at 2 AM. I doodle on my notes when I get bored in class. I love hard. I write 10 poems one day and then none for a week. I forget to message people back. There’s that one person I’d drop anything for. I have goals and dreams. I wait in the long pharmacy lines to get my prescription. I get lost in my thoughts.

I’m human just like you. I have favorite songs I listen to for a month straight. I couldn’t wait for Black Panther to hit theaters, and I went to see it multiple times when it finally did. I am not a burden. I do not need to be banned from military duty because you think I’m more trouble than I’m worth. I don’t need you asking me what’s in my pants or dictating which bathroom I should use if I need to go in public. I don’t need you regulating what I do and don’t need on your medical insurance policies. Top surgery is not cosmetic. Botton surgery is not cosmetic. Hormone Replacement Therapy is not some unnecessary expense you can’t be troubled to cover. I am not a burden. I am not a lab rat you get to experiment on. I am not some nut case you need to crack. I am not sick in the head and need to be “fixed”. I am human. I am not less than you, nore am I more. I am not “the best of both worlds”. I am me. I am not a burden. I am not an inconvenience. I am not hard to love. I am not hard to deal with. I am who I am.

-BFoundAPen