potential triggers/suicide
let me live mine
 
i remember the boy
who was openly gay,
always bullied and criticized
until one day he took 
his own life; 
and i buried my truth down inside
me because i promised myself
that i would live—
but is it truly living when you 
cannot be yourself?
i try to be a good person,
do the right thing,
help others,
and i always love unconditionally;
yet i am judged for my 
rainbow heart—
how is that fair? how is that right?
is it what love should be?
judging people who don't live the
same as you?
not everyone follows the same
religion or believes the same things,
but somehow who i love is offensive
to you?
why?
mind your own life, and let me live mine.

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Linda M. Crate (she/her) is a Pennsylvanian writer whose works have been published widely both online and in print. She has twelve published poetry chapbooks, the latest being: Searching Stained Glass Windows For An Answer (Alien Buddha Press, December 2022).