a girl sits with a book in her lap, being too heavy for her scrawny legs, it slips and clatters to the floor beneath her desk. the teacher expresses exasperation at her inattentiveness and offers to teach her skills to fix her focus

that girl is me

and i like being broken.

 

the vice president of the united states believes homosexuals are going to hell. he said gay couples signaled societal collapse and says he wants LGBTQ youth to undergo conversion therapy to be cured

he is talking about me

and i like being broken.

 

a soul reaches for the divine in the mundane. it pulses in time with the traffic thrumming over the twisting multilayered freeways. it's told over and over again to be more discerning, that it needs to readjust its taste

that soul is mine

and i like being broken.

 

returning from vacation, a professional with bright purple hair now has several new markings inked on her body with the rat-a-tat of the tattoo needle. she is called into her superior’s office and receives a lecture on how to repair her image.

that professional is me

and i like being broken.

 

a heart connects profoundly with more than one lover at a time. it often hears how unnatural that is, how monogamy is the only way to express true love and this openness is deviant.

that heart is in my chest

and i like being broken.

 

a girl sits with a tablet in her lap and sobs, for the people hurting, for victims of domestic terrorism, for the inadequacy of her efforts to stem the tide of hate. social media is flooded with assertions that this is the price of living in a land that values free speech  

that girl is me

and i don’t like being broken like this.