At Least

Writer: Anthony Salandy

Editor: Khaled Mohammed

All he’ll ever be is a body
Too large or in candour too verbose.
 
At least that’s what his friends say
 
All he’ll ever be is too tanned
Like a piece of leather.
 
At least that’s why magazines advertise bleaching products
 
All he’ll ever be is ethnically and culturally ambiguous
Because his parents decided to have him.
 
At least that’s what strangers think of him
 
All he’ll ever be is a stranger
In his home countries.
 
At least that’s what immigration tells him
 
All he’ll ever be is too flamboyant
Because only lustful perceptions define him.
 
At least that’s what they said when they touched him
 
All he’ll ever be is something different
Like a fetish in the eyes of men.
 
So indignant and haughty
 
But he’ll be who he wants
Even if it kills him and leaves his body broken.
 
At least that’s what he says to himself every night