In Memory of Love.Chat-XYZ
Your audacity Was admirable: Appearing without invitation, Though you’d argue Open meant all Are welcome And could put in our two cents— Or in your case, five comments In a row. All were welcome To engage with you, Your emojis Breaking language barriers While simultaneously soliciting All sexual orientations and genders. Bot you might be, You had more humanity Than some politicians. Those irrelevant images Might have interrupted Actual conversation in the chat, But I almost prefer them To the silence that I fear Would meet my readings. You made me feel seen And relevant And less alone in the vastness That is both cyberspace and reality. Like a reliable friend, You accompanied me To watch some surfing too. Although you remained off-topic, At least you showed up. Now a part of me misses you Even though I was the one Who dealt the deadly blow And clicked “Report”.
The Comments Section
Once a guy, A stranger on the internet (uh-oh), Told me that a tampon Should be shoved in my mouth All because I stood up against creepers Who assumed the guise of heroes. Funny how cishet men Suddenly overcome their irrational fear Of menstruation products, Open or wrapped, When it can be used as a weapon For the patriarchy, Nevermind that We have to pay taxes To take care of our bodies. Only they can talk about our bodies And our periods And how those hormones Make us all irrational. That same guy Said I must have woken up On the wrong side of the tampon And in the same thread, Got grossed out when I said, I free bleed baby! We can't mention our own blood Because women and trans folks Aren't real, breathing, bleeding people With emotions and needs. Thus if I say A tampon in my mouth sounds kinky, The one who suggested it would be grossed out again Because he doesn’t wanna hear About queer sex and female pleasure. I'm tempted To add that it's kinky But I'm a dom So it should go into HIS mouth, And I can see him seethe with rage Through the wireless network. Instead I think about how A tampon in my mouth Wouldn't even stop the bleeding From all the times I've had to bite my tongue And still my fingers by forming a fist, Nails digging into my palm— And yet it makes me feel better To show some teeth When I’m told, You should smile more.
About the Author:
Jennifer Elise Wang (she/they) is a non-binary femme in STEM from Dallas, Texas. When she’s not doing neuroscience research, she enjoys writing, dancing, and learning how to skateboard and snowboard. She has been published in New Verse News, FERAL, Southern Arizona Press, and Exist Otherwise. She can be found on Facebook and on Twitter.
These pieces are a part of Issue Three: CYBERSCRIPT. Read more like it here.