Language Barriers

there was once a time

when i first discovered kpop

and i felt strangely annoyed

that i couldn't understand a thing they were saying

the idols wore makeup

heavily applied

with jewelry

and crazily styled hair

with clothes that cost out of this world

and i thought

'how gay can you get'

i realized

that this was being prejudiced

that kpop was just music

the same music i listen to everyday

just a different genre

just a different language

and i've come to welcome

the warmth of the songs

and the joy it brought me

when i excitedly wait for a new comeback

when i happily watch live shows

and i think

there's nothing a little english subtitles can't do

but people aren't always as open

people aren’t going to always accept it

and they might not give new things a chance

like the rest of us might

they will mock us

the ones who do like it

and they will not spare us

a second of their life 

rethinking how it may have hurt 

to call another person’s music

‘gay’

there was once a time

when i first discovered kpop

and i thought

‘how gay can you get'