Hold their hatred,
In the palm of your hand.
Regard it exactly as it is.
Fury,
Cold or hot.
Simmering or in eruption.
It washes over me like dry heat,
Basking in the radiation.
Hate me.
I’ll be infamous,
Yet.
Standing against the fires of anger.
Defying your damnation.
Years of practice.
Ableism on parade,
Amongst queer leanings.
A savant amongst rednecks.
They were never kind.
The small town whispers,
Frothing at the edges of earshot.
Ugly,
Hateful,
Small minded,
Cruel.
False.
Worse.
Have you been smeared as a predator?
Libelous slander,
Lies.
Falsehoods.
Levelled against your word and worth.
Can you feel the heat rising?
Flames licking at your skin?
This hatred becomes a furnace.
Yet I’ve endured –
Infernos of neutron stars,
Battering of solar winds.
The fury becomes a numbing buzz,
Flickering in and out.
Let them hate.
Choke on it.
Gag on remnants,
Of what could have been respect.
Ugly souls,
Garbage people,
Trash philosophies.
Hold their hate,
Witness it.
Know it.
Disregard it like the rest.
Time is precious,
Thy destiny is calling.
Not a moment to spare in doubting.
Not one.
I’ll Be Infamous, Yet.
