But maybe your touch will let me escape for an afternoon
Oil spills and witchcraft all over the deep blue sea
I’m burnt out and all that’s left is debris
Waves wash over my brain
Knives graze my heart but not my skin
My tongue is chained when I’m with kin
Locks and chains will conceal them for now
Wish I could float up with both of them
Wish I could lay down with none of them
I’m both and I’m neither
I’m a deadly experience so tie the chains tighter
Till the day all my journals burn and I’m free
Rahim Abdulkarim wrote this poem to describe what it's like living as a non-binary person born and raised in a conservative community. It reflects on how different their experiences and feelings are when they present themself in different ways. In a community where they’re too scared to experiment on themself, too scared to relate to either gender, and too confused at simple intuitions that exist in both genders but not in themself, they yearn to break free from these binary chains but still be able to explore them. Rahim writes from Jeddah.
