Freshly Poured
When past depresses and future frightens,
when news is bad and weather dreary,
morning coffee, fresh from pot,
makes my life feel good and cheery.
~ Peter Burke
Beyond Gender
At a poetry celebration
I spy a slender youth.
Reserved, watchful,
black vest, white shirt,
bright eyes, pale skin,
hair like fine fur.
He or she? I cannot say.
I choose a name – Morgan.
Morgan stands and speaks.
“I am a trans man.
Now you know why
I changed my pronouns.”
As a girl, she grieved.
“I can’t stand these things on my chest.”
So she gave up
ovaries and breasts.
No longer a daddy’s girl, he seeks
to become a man.
“Daddy, teach me to shave.”
“Morgan, you have no whiskers.”
So confusing – we straights,
male, female alike,
struggle to fit roles
already known.
Where are roles for trans?
Morgan is teaching me to look
beyond roles, beyond gender
to person.
~Peter Burke