girls are not kitchen knives

Graphic by Maya Swift

This is a poem about navigating friendships in pre-dominantly straight communities. It's always tricky considering the stigma that surrounds lesbians. The poet has prided herself on being a good lesbian, but despite many of us putting others comfort over ours in fear of not being accepted, allyship is still not a guarantee. 

high school is filled with sugary gargoyles

straight girls and self-appointed allies

people who love me as long as i’m a good lesbian

people who love me as long as i don’t point out 

that it’s a privilege to hold hands in public

         i stare at parallel train tracks

was i always not straight 

or did the universe make me bent? 

loving girls has never been a weekend job or a pastime

i was never inaugurated to become a lesbian either

but they always ask,

       how old were you when you found out?

as if the act of loving is comparable

to the diagnosis of a disease

maybe the world would function better with manuals

then everyone would know that girls aren't kitchen knives, 

and neither are lesbians

then i wouldn't have to reintroduce myself 

to a world that shifts continuously 

then maybe my straight friends 

wouldn't make jokes like, "are you lesbian or are you normal?"

then i wouldn't have to explain that some jokes aren't yours to make

but this world has been conditioned 

to equate "normal" with "good"

and lesbians with predators

and girls with kitchen knives 

---

Written by Latifa Sekarini (she/her)

IG: @tofuisi

Edited by Keyatta Brooks (she/her)

Graphic by Maya Swift (she/her)

IG: @mayaisabelaswift