"Life and Pandemic" - Spring 2020

Trans in Pandemic
I feel trapped, like a prisoner in my own home.
I’m called by a name that isn’t mine, pronouns that haven’t fit for years
Terms of endearment for a little girl that was never me.
That’s not my name, I wish I could say
But I never told them what my name is.
I feel trapped, like a prisoner in my own home.
I felt safe, surrounded by friends.
I was called by the name that is mine, the pronouns I have claimed
Nicknames for the person I have grown to become.
But now that’s all gone, for we’ve all moved back home.
Except for me, “home” is the place I left.
I felt safe, surrounded by friends.
I want to feel free again, in more ways than one.
I need to see my city again, I need to hear my name again
Everything I left behind
I need to feel my friends’ hugs again
but I can’t
not now
not yet
I want to feel free again, in more ways than one.
I will survive this, for I am strong.
I call my friends, ones who know my name.
They offer their support, and I mine.
They provide me a respite from the hell we’re living in
And we know it will end, but we know not when.
I will survive this, for I am strong.
Rei Vignapiano