Let Me Hold Your Hand

i want to hold your hand

i want your kiss on my cheek

i want to put a ring on your finger

because i need your love

like pressed flowers and worn photos

we will live on in the albums of society

proving not that we are different but that we are the same

at the top of my lungs

i am ready to confess my love, for our love

giving everyone a chance to except it, or move on

to move on or, f_ck off and tell me otherwise

to my face

that i am not allowed to love you

with my heart, mind, body and soul

because we are both women

or they are both men

while we may defy expectations

we love beyond imagination

with your hand in mine

i'll protest, their inability to understand the real meaning of what's normal

i'll fight closed fist and sharp words

because if i am me

i am happy

no matter the severity

no matter their brutality

no matter their definition

I will not be cradled into a lifestyle

which negates, who I am and who I love

because we are like pressed flowers and worn photos

holding a perfection and hope that will come again

a reminder that there is happiness during all seasons

i want your children

i want your affection

i want the vows that we speak to last

in my heart

and the courts of law

i want your breath on my neck

not the breath of fools

threatening my livelihood and my values

as if i am, disgusting, inhumane, different from all

who walk on two legs

with opposable thumbs

carrying generations of tradition, pain, and self respect

i need those who don't understand

to listen and only realize

i am not an

adjective to describe

something you don't like

or what goes wrong in your life

i am not a slang word

to throw around

and it hurts to be thrown around

i am a human being

i want closets to be somewhere you store

boxes, shoes and old clothes

not a hell hole

where someone hides because they are afraid

of what is on the other side of the door

i want coming out

to be

coming out of church

coming out of city halls

coming out of the airport

after a honeymoon

with huge smiles and glassy eyes

i want to remind people that gay also means, happy

and we are happy

i want LGBT to mean

loving, growing, believing, and trying

because if we try

then it won’t be a

1-800 suicide prevention line

it will be

1 800 thank you for accepting me

because all i wanted to do, was hold her hand