I march with my newfound sister we were once in a cowboy band together now we hand over our old drag to each other I joke that the band will now listen to me but not to her the newly out pandemic trans are here puppy energy is everywhere their first time in community I keep my mask on and search for faces who might remember who we lost I search for those of us who survived I can’t leave the park where we gather until the last trans is gone I feel the vertigo of 2.5 years of being alone in ways that sapped this joy of feeling normal it can only be found in our company I am so afraid of leaving I forget my safety men slump around me as I exit I walk back towards the village take off my pride beads keep my head down like usual attempt to disappear so that I don’t really no one marching with me who is alive anymore to call this feeling lonely can never express it correctly more like being an alien abandoned on earth the trans march is over
Bios
Charlie Petch
Charlie Petch (they/them, he/him) is a disabled/queer/transmasculine multidisciplinary artist who resides in Tkaronto/Toronto. A poet, playwright, librettist, musician, lighting designer, and host, Petch was the 2017 Poet of Honour for the speakNORTH national festival, winner of the Golden Beret lifetime achievement in spoken word with The League of Canadian Poets (2020), and founder of Hot Damn it’s a Queer Slam. Petch is a touring performer, as well as a mentor and workshop facilitator. Their debut poetry collection, Why I Was Late (Brick Books), won the 2022 ReLit Award, and was named “Best of 2021” by The Walrus. Their film with Opera QTO, Medusa’s Children, is launching in June 2022. They have been featured on the CBC’s Q, the Toronto International Festival of Authors, and were longlisted for the CBC Poetry Prize in 2021. [provided for the Arc Award of Awesomeness – June 2022]