Well-Meaning

Listen,
they say,
it’s OK. 

We know
you couldn’t help
being born this way.

Your color’s
your color, your gender’s
your gender.  That accent’s

a marker, but that’s all
we hear there.  No reason
to believe it matters,

really.  We know
the biology, the genetics,
your body’s opinion

of what your body
should be.  What’s
the hurry?  All’s

forgiven, all’s forgotten
if you will do the same.
It’s not like we need

to name the past, right?
We’re blind to it, we figure
you’ll thank us for

our blindness.  So buck up
and c’mon, don’t be that way —
and so we can

move forward.  Forward,
down that path over there,
we take such pride in.

Just step back a bit,
and let us go first — after all,
we know what we’re doing,

and we’d hate to see you, so tender
and new, get hurt
on the way.