lily flowers; muke

eight

L U K E
(male)

three hundred and six five days
since i came out to the world.
and now, i'm legally a male.

i've also managed to get six
students expelled, a teacher
and a store clerk fired. but

the store clerk things is a whole
other story. on the bright side,
i have other things to look up to.

my top surgery is scheduled
in a week. no more binder.
my voice is deeper and hair

is expanding to new locations.
my body has grown to be more
built. i look tougher. as tough

as a dude with curly red hair can
get. my mother says that if dad
was alive, he'd love me just the

way i am.

michael and i just had our one
year anniversary. we've been open
about our relationship for a few

months now. he says he's never
felt happier. my mom accepts the
fact that i'm gay. michael also

came out to everyone at school.
everyone was pretty accepting.
a few kids disliked the fact that a

single human could like all the
humans and not just one category
of human. mind blowing stuff,

isn't it?

the hate and vandalizing stopped
after a teacher noticed michael and
i got punched but some soccer player.

of course, some kids still call us
fags and treat us like dirt, but that's
gonna happen anywhere i go.

michael sat down next to me on
the bench in the courtyard. he handed
me a sandwich from the cafeteria.

ashton said to give it to you.
he's with his team again.
ya know, pep rally season.

i laughed. my laugh is deeper now.
it made me feel a lot better about
laughing in front of people.

we ate together in peace until
michael pulled out a lily flower
from his stupid brown lunch bag.

i figured, since it's been a year,
we can officially rename this stupid
flower. he placed the flower in my

hands. our eyes caught each other,
the orange color of the flower dancing
across my mind.

a luke flower.