Check out this video of a performance called “Hir” by Alysia Harris and Aysha El Shamayleh at Brave New Voices, a teen slam-poetry festival.
I’ve watched it three times. I’ve cried each time.
This poem speaks to me…it almost speaks for me. The memories of the teenage “girl” in the baggy clothes, hoping not to be noticed because sometimes its better to be invisible than to be seen for something you’re not.
“Doesn’t paint her face because her whole body’s painted on”
“All he wishes for is to get to wear a tuxedo to prom”
“She was always that male beetle that everyone called a ‘ladybug’”
“God combined the two genders and put me in this body Transgendered”
“I’m here. Quit talking about me like I’m not here” or “I’m hir. Quit talking about me like I’m not here.”
This is genius. The second word could be taken to mean “here” or “hir.” ['Hir' is a gender-neutral pronoun that can be used in place of "his" and "her"]. The sentence could be saying “Quit treating me like i’m invisible” or “Quit using the wrong pronoun.” And when you think about it, sometimes those two meanings are basically one in the same. Being called “she” for years and decades when “he” is the only thing that ever feels right can leave you feeling like a shell of yourself; like nobody sees the real you.
“James falls back into Melissa’s Skin, and the two comfort each other with their syncapated heart beats. Waiting for the day when Melissa can finally scrub off this made up genetic make up, when the teacher asks for James, and he can finally say “i’m here.”
Thank you, Alysia and Aysha, for using your gifts as poets to tell our stories so well and with such passion. This is such an important form of activism – making our stories known so that one day we can all finally say, “I’m here.”
Tags: Activism, Brave New Voices, Gender Queer, Hir, LGBT, Liberalism, Slam Poetry, Transgender, Youth
