Unlock Me

I lie in my room

I am filled with emotions.

At the walls, I stare

as white as they are,

as flat as they look

harmless they are

Cruel they don't look,

but the truth my friend is

I am  locked

I'm limping

I'm low

I'm lamentable

I'm lugubrious,

I'm imprisoned

I'm pressed

I'm pushed down

I'm pushed in

I'm pushed aside

I'm pressured

I'm dejected I'm despondent I'm destroyed I'm disconsolate I'm dying away. I'm drowning I'm depressed

I repeat The walls I stare As white as they are As flat as they look Harmless they look Cruel they don't look but the truth my brother is

I'm sad I'm sick I'm suffocated I'm sour I'm sealed up I'm shut in I'm spooked

I'm anxious I'm angry I'm antagonised I'm affronted I'm aggravated

I'm bleeding I'm crying I'm tripping I'm tortured I'm tempered with I'm tired I'm weak I'm worn out I'm wasted I'm weeping

I thought I should be honest with you my sister, you my brother

My fella My neighbour My Colleague

I'm living in a prison I'm locked down in a cell I call a body

I need to be unlocked Set free I stay in it wishing to experience what the books label liberdade Tokoloho Uhuru Vryheid Inkululeko Ufulu Frihet Freedom.

Could you my brother perhaps unlock me

from the stigma, the hatred,

the patriarchal  mindsets,

the misogynistic mass?

Could you my sister maybe, 

just maybe, unlock me from the misjudgement,

the repression,  the conviction, the incarceration.

Only you my neighbour, my sister, my brother can unlock me from all these chains. How? It's simple Let me be free Allow me the chance to be myself don't judge don't stigmatise me don't hold me accountable for my existence Stop the killing Stop the disunion Stop the hatred Stop the mockery Stop IT AND Just UNLOCK ME

By: Siya T. Maphanga (FtM) South Africa

Kindly Donate towards Siya's  top surgery:  https://www.youcaring.com/tshidi-siya-maphanga-674835/donate/general