By Jacob Jing
11th grade | Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science | Texas
Finalist, Human Rights category
With lines from “Essay: Anti-Trans Myths” by Simón(e) D. Sun and Florence Ashley, a Pulitzer Center reporting project
Today, let us give in. Let us wear each other’s clothes
and take a train to a place
where no one knows the names
we were born with. On the way, we
christen each other anew, teach each other
how to stop belonging to the things
we hate about ourselves. There is joy
in every piece of birthright abandoned, every patch of skin
reclaimed between gentle fingers. We hold each other
with closed eyes and opened hands, affirm the hurt
so it can heal. I have never known
anything more real than this
open wound, this death sentence
in the form of a body. I still spend my days
staring out the fogged window, yearning to soar
into the scenery streaking by. No bones
governing flight. No flesh governing
life. Only the pure light
of our souls, guiding our way.
Know that this ache
is too intimate to misunderstand. Know
that we are still here anyways, translating longing
into hope, violating your falsified science
just by persisting. Know that we are heading towards
something sweeter, something
kinder. All of us embracing
this social contagion of love.
Jacob Jing is a rising senior at the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science. He poeticizes his personal truths in hopes of reaching others, and he believes in writing as a way to promote change. In his free time, he enjoys photography, naps, and the $3 milkshakes from the student union.
Read more winning entries from the 2024 Fighting Words Poetry Contest.