on the night before pride month

sometimes the poem finds you in the woods

below is a poem that came to me as i hiked through the woods this evening, contemplating what it means to be coming into pride month tomorrow. these are terrifying, beautiful, complex times, my friends. happy pride to all of my queer fam. i love us so damn much. thank you to all of our queer and trans ancestors who brought us this far. may we carry the torch well.

‘twas the night before pride month (2025)

’twas the night before pride month and all through the town
not a proud boi was sleeping, too much had gone down

the drag costumes were hung in the closets with care
kings and queens hoping they’d be called up somewhere

queer children were nestled all snug in their beds,
while visions of drag story hour danced in their heads

and mare in their harness and i in my strap
had just settled to cuddle after an hours-long tap

when out of the room our phones gave such a clatter,
there was no doubt in our minds… something was the matter

away to the kitchen i flew like the flash
my post-sex high coming down with a crash

the news that was there on the tiny blue screen
brought me down to my knees and i let out a scream

for there in front of my eyes did appear,
another trans sibling murdered, over fifty this year

choosing to be a witness, a task i could not shirk
i was reminded in an instant, we cannot not quit the work

more rapid than caster, the queercestors came
as i raged and i wept and i called them by name
“now marsha! now sylvia!
now sir lady java!
oh, stormé! oh, lily!
oh, lucy and dora!
for the brick that was thrown
at the start of stonewall
for the risks that you took
we are grateful for you all”

sitting down at the altar, a candle now lit
it was hard to hold hope, i have to admit
sending a call up to the universe for care
the pain of it all almost too much to bear

and then in a twinkling, i heard ‘cross the street
the increasing volume of an unmistakeable beat

i set down the heavy, began to dance without shame
listening to the words of lady gaga’s refrain
reminding us all we are beautiful in our way
no matter what bullshit the politicians might say

whether we are queer, trans, or bi, intersex, or pan 
we belong to each other, and never to the man

you can try to destroy us, take away our rights
we will always live through the darkest of nights

you can pass all your laws, no matter how suss
we are stronger than that, we have always had us 

you can strip us of marriage, have our genders deleted
the state can’t define us, we won’t be defeated

we will stand here united, facing all that is scary
bringing flowers to gravesites is a burden we carry

we have made it through nazis and the lavender scare
held one another through aids when no one else cared

our path is laid out, it is one of resistance
but this was never just about our lgbtq+ existence

we know that our fight goes beyond who we fuck
to uprooting the white supremacy in which our system is stuck

to black lives, palestinians, and immigrants too
we won’t reach our liberation if it’s not with you

happy pride to us all, in whatever form of gay
gurl we have come this far, of course we gonna slay 

may we never, ever forget, as we party and delight
pride was a riot, may there by joy in our fight