day TWENTY EIGHT

The walk to work
In the meat packing district
Is long
And it is cold
Far from the train
Close to the river
But I take the longest route
To walk past
This place
It is not the fastest
Or the easiest way
To get where I am going
But it gives me a moment
To remember
To thank
Those who came before me
The trans ones
The drag queens
The dykes faggots and queers
Who decided
"We will not hide
We will not be passive
We will not give up
We will fight back
We will create space
That is our right
That is our destiny
That will always be ours."
No longer a one-sided fight
No longer victims
But active participants in the war
Rebels, resistance, ready warriors
And it was not the fastest
Or the easiest way
But it was right.
And now we fight
We fight today
And tomorrow
And Friday
And next week
And next year
To continue
The legacy
The bravery
Of what was started here

                 -- Lindsay Hope Simon