This morning the needle in my thigh felt a little more painful than normal

An overwhelming weight on the tops of my shoulders

Hurting and pointed and important

Spreading throughout my body, the fact that millions of people just like me feel this way

I think about vitriol and lies and fabrications

Is God’s image so rigid and cruel that I cannot exist in the skin he’s allowed me to change?

I consider for a moment this isn’t all just about me

and i think about women, who i once identified with, everywhere

wondering their their organs belong to them

i think about people of all shades, who walk the borderland of their existences

the people who only wish to live lives with smiles and smiles and smiles

i think about the beautiful ones, the ones who deserve a life free of old, old men directing the

trajectory of their lives.

i think about how this small regular thing i’ve been doing for years, this injection

has become a political protest, an act of defiance never intended

and i wonder when it won’t be anymore.

Author Bio: Raul is currently a senior English Creative Writing major at Fresno State. When it comes to poetry, he really enjoys writing about themes of identity and reflection, specifically from a trans perspective. He has been published once before with the San Joaquin Review.

Recollections: Of Being is a literary column brought to you by The Collegian, founded and organized by Aura Peredia. We publish writing and art, either political or personal, to create a bridge between varying valley voices.

For previous installments of Recollections: Of Being, click here.