I can still bloom.

by Mandi Becher

December 13, 2022

I can still bloom

This fruit upon my chest

I want to bare no more

The garden between my legs

Ashamed of it's crop

I reap what I sow

but my needle is bare

Trapped in a contour

Hostage to the male gaze

This baren fruit is rotten

My crop unfit for harvest

I never asked to be a garden

For a prairie was my dream

This binary barricade

Inadequate for the two spirited

Cascading out of female

As Mercury in Retrograde

Let me be fluid like the moon

Forever changing phases.

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Comments (3)

gumbupDec 14, 2022

This is beautiful.

gumbupDec 14, 2022

This is beautiful.

Mandi BecherDec 13, 2022

Gender and Sex are not the same things. Completely different, and influenced by each other, yes, but not the same. When I finally learned this and truly thought about it, my suppressed feelings emerged to the surface. My feelings of non-conformity and gender fluidness finally had solid recognition and research. I have been vigilantly trying to explore my sexuality and gender. I say explore in a positive light, but it was never all that positive. Not knowing how you will feel within your skin everyday is draining. Knowing half the world thinks you are completely delusional. Students in the hallway making mental hospital jokes about people like me. Drag queens getting killed in the streets, my community suffering under legislation. Many cultures around the world recognize gender variant peoples. I highly respect and admire those cultures’ acceptance and exploration.I just want to feel comfortable.