We Leave the World Outside [Preface on Street Harassment]

This is an older piece, that addresses street violence and harrassment.  As a gender non conforming person of color, street harassment is an everyday reality.  It always astounds me how much the violence increases when I am traveling with a perceived "femme." I can write some of the violence off as patriarchy, homophobia, fear, but intellectualizing it still doesn't take away the after effects of violence, my body literally tenses up.  I am constantly thinking about negotiating space, when not to hold hands, which group of cis-men I should avoid, I constantly think about my safety and my partner/lover's safety.  I also think about how as queer people this effects our interpersonal relationships.   When the outside world DOES creep into our beds, how do we take care of ourselves?  How do we empower ourselves in a world that strips us of dignity and attempts to make us feel ashamed of who we are.  What psychological and physical effects does this have on our community as a whole?

I have done searches online on safety planning specifically for street harassment for Queer folks and I've yet to find any.  Most resources are centered on intimate partner violence (straight & queer), but what about stranger violence?    If you have resources please share. I will repost.

be safe.
-Cris
------------------------------------------------

We Leave the World Outside
for M

Beneath my red, pink, yellow stripped sheets

trace your flushed

cheeks with my thumb

kiss the corners of your mouth

Leave the world outside


See, outside in the world

our kind of love

is met with purple bruises

crimson splatter concrete, fists and broken teeth

bones split so easily

words shatter sternum

“Bitch! Dyke! Faggot!

You wanna be a man?

I’ll show you what a man is”


Inside, we mend love

suture muscle and flesh

using lips and tongue

“Saturate me” you say

I let the tears fall

heavy as sin

onto your collarbone

Leave the world outside


Lover, I fear

my skin and bones

aren’t steel

aren’t enough

to protect you

To risk a kiss on the Q train

to risk touching your face

on Ocean Avenue

before the change of a traffic light

to hold your lifeline in mine


At night I dream

the world is trying to get inside

underneath our sheets

onto our bodies

I wake up gasping for air

You pull me by my chin

Pull the red, pink, yellow stripped sheets

Over our heads

“Leave the world outside.”