You started the wars.
You whipped the horses.
You tore up the land and salted the fields.
You called us whores,
and evil forces,
turning soldiers against us with swords and shields.
You chose this way.
You built the street.
You dug our graves and sewed our skulls.
And beg as we may,
our lives at your feet.
you scattered our flesh to the crows and gulls
…then
Your actions unbecoming;
Your ‘optics’ distasteful;
The eyes of the world upon you,
you, you, you, blamed us…
and told us, “suffer quietly”,
We’re making You uncomfortable?
Tou say we
are creating a climate of fear?
Fuck you, Joanne.
Glossary:
DARVO refers to Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender, an abuse used by bigots and abusers in which they pretend to be the “real” victims while their victim, the targets of the bigotry, violence, and hatred, are in fact the “real” perpetrators. This poem speaks specifically of how TERFs (Trans Exclusionary Radical Fascists) and Transphobes pretend that trans people are ostensibly the evil ones.
Charl Landsberg is a transgender South African poet, artist, musician, and writer who’s work often focusses on issues of social justice, feminism, anti-racism, and queer liberation.