“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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