a love letter to my mustache

queer-with-a-pen

dear mustache,

i used to hate you

because of how dark and prominent

you were against the almost pallor

of my skin

 

people would

make fun of me for you

in middle school especially

but kids are mean

and i stood out in more

ways than my mustache

that would have been more fitting

on a prepubescent teenage boy

than an angry lesbian

 

i was

shamed into waxing you away

which hurt so much the first time

that i almost cried

but what hurt more than the hot wax

was my father

whose genes gifted me with

darker and coarser hair

always encouraging me to

bleach you away into an acceptable

shade of invisible

 

and then

when a switch was thrown

inside my body that had

been crying out from the still

tender age of seven that my being

called a girl was

wrong wrong wrong

 

you were

there still having always

come back after the wax and bleach

 

but that

fine line of hairs above

my upper lip

you made me feel more masculine

you made me hate myself less

 

you make me feel more masculine

you make me hate myself less

  • Author: Boaz Priestly (Pseudonym) (Offline Offline)
  • Published: September 16th, 2017 14:29
  • Category: Letter
  • Views: 37
  • User favorite of this poem: Aislinn Wilson.
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Comments2

  • FredPeyer

    Boaz, great write about your mustache. I understand that in your case it was something you did not want, whereas in my case I let it grow in my mid-twenties and still have it.

    • queer-with-a-pen

      Before I came out as a transman, having facial hair was one of the many banes of my existence. Now, though, I love my 'stache and can't wait to get a beard, too 🙂

    • Aislinn Wilson

      Every time I search an LGBT term on this site, you seem to come up, but I can't complain. I'm glad to see your poetry again. Though not that long ago, I feel like I got to see a piece that really illustrated your progression as a writer over time.

      This is really beautiful, and as always so well written.

      • queer-with-a-pen

        This is a really great thing to wake up to. Thank you for continuing to read my work. It means a lot.



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