“What do you want to be called?”
She doesn’t care if you get it
or get it right.
Never did.
“Are you a boy or a girl?”
Kumquat. Snail. Fuzzy peach.
A “penis person” who presents “male”
and prefers “she,”
the simple joy being introduced as she–
there’s no explaining it.
— from “What do you want to be called?”
It is okay to shimmer. It is okay to be who you are. There will be confusion. Differences. Pronouns. Questions you can’t answer.
Just remind yourself: I am a beautiful “She”.
In What Do You Want To Be Called (Anstruther Press), Kirby implores us to think of a time when things could have been easier – more aware. Where life wasn’t “so expendable”. Maybe the boy would look up from his gadget. Where no one cares if it’s a vulva or a penis. Where everyone has the sensibility of a 2-year-old. Because at two it’s really just a silly question. It’s not judgement.
Kirby just wants us to be kind. To push forward. To breathe life into whatever we are doing. To look alive. To feel the moment. To make sure that in those last breaths, you know that you have been the beautiful you who you deserve. You are who you are, but whoever – and however – you are, be the best “she” that you can be!
Purchase your copy of What Do You Want To Be Called? from Anstruther Press.