Quote from local Pride survey, Out Here
Let’s start with some questions, then:
am I animal, vegetable, or mineral?
Am I bigger than a breadbox, smaller
than an elephant? Am I tall enough
to reach this counter? Do I have money
in my hands? Can you understand my speech?
Does it matter to you if my skirt does not match
the triangle shaped image on the bathroom door?
If my voice is high or low? Do you need
to name me like Adam? Am I your first animal
to change my sex, my gender? Are you afraid
that if you can’t label me, you’ll get smaller?
Does that body you wear leave room for you
to breathe? Do you put on your Self one leg at a time?
What will you be if you give up the words man,
woman? What will you lose? Who will you be?
Subhaga Crystal Bacon (they/them) is a Queer elder living in rural Washington on unceded Methow land. They are the author of four full length collections of poetry including A Brief History of My Sex Life, forthcoming from Lily Poetry Review Books in 2026; the Lambda Literary Award finalist Transitory, from BOA Editions, 2023;and the chapbook, Surrender of Water in Hidden Places, Red Flag Poetry, 2023, re-released in an extended edition in the summer of 2024. www.subhagacrystalbacon.com