how old am i? today, i’m today
i’m as old as whatever light touches me.
some nights i’m new as the fire at my feet
some nights i’m a star, glamorous, ancient
& already extinguished. we citizens
of an unpopular heaven.
& low-attended crucifixions. listen
i’ve accepted what i was given
be it my name or be it my ender’s verdict.
when i was born, i was born a bull’s-eye.
i spent my life arguing how i mattered
until it didn’t matter.
who knew my haven
would be my coffin?
dead is the safest i’ve ever been.
i’ve never been so alive.
- Danez Smith, Don’t Call Us Dead