Trans Elder

Trans people deserve to grow old too, and our lives matter!

By @kahyangi on Instagram

The average life expectancy

For trans people is 35

Due to violence and suicide

My future vision is blurry

I can see fuzzy outlines

Shadows taking shape

I see a face crumpled in sorrow

Heavy with loss and longing

Until I’m stiff as a board in a box

Then light as a feather

I don’t want to be just

Another statistic

I deserve to live a full life

Free from fear and persecution

Not terrorized by my body and bigots

But then I adjust my lens

And I can just make out

A brighter future

Queer people with full rights

Trans people full of life

I see faces lined with

Years of laughter too

Memories that trace down my cheeks

Soft eyes and firm muscles

Firm resolve and soft heart

I want to survive somehow

To see a country/state/community

Free from christofascism

Where my biggest fear is just

Dying alone

Not being tortured and killed

Left to die in some field

The wrong gender reported

The wrong name written on my tombstone

The wrong people at my funeral

I want to retire and die a trans elder

Surrounded by community and love

75 years under my still stylish belt

No, fuck those odds—

I want to see fucking 101

To take my first breath

In the 20th century

Last through the 21st

Past my abusers

And ring in the new year in the 22nd

I want to tell the younger generations

My grandkids and great grandkids

About the trans people

Who fought for their rights

How I survived world wars

And climate change

And hate crimes

I want them to be shocked

And horrified

Since trans people are our equals

We respect the Earth

And all her creatures

I want to live to see how

The human race once again

Adapted and overcame

How we evolved with love

Outgrew hatred

Put our bombs down

No more lines drawn

I want to tell trans kids,

“I’m still here.

You can not just survive

But thrive.

You can see your 35th birthday

And more.”

But for now, more of us

Will die before we even retire

A tragedy as old as time

So many souls gone too soon

Stolen by blind hatred

But don’t give up all hope

A better future is possible for us all

Trans people deserve to grow old too

And our lives matter