I Am the Echo: A Transgender Memorial Poem by Axton N. O. Mitchell

“I am the Echo”
An Original Poem by Axton N.O. Mitchell

I am not the scream,

not even the shout.

I am the echo no one warned you about.

You hear the bang, then the boom.

You think it’s over much too soon.

I am the echo

of dead transgender men,

laid to rest beneath markers

that never quite said who they were.

Erased at every turn,

even in death.

I am the echo that won’t let you forget

names like:

Sam Nordquist,

Brandon Teena,

Codii Lawrence,

Arlo Huber,

Nex Benedict,

and so many others

we’ve buried far too early.

I am not their scream,

I am not their shout, 

those belong to them alone.

But their echo lives on in my existence.

In every breath I take,

I speak their piece.

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