Trans Atlantic

I’ve always wanted to do a transatlantic crossing

I suppose I thought the hashtag would be funny

I’d fly a little flag

Stripes in pink and white and blue

The trans boy sailor with

Something to prove

Trans as a prefix is to cross beyond and through

From opposite sides of a line

Whether that line is one of gender or of longitude

And as much as we believe that all these lines denote a binary

The truth is that for either journey

The lines you cross are variable and many

The action undertaken in crossing from shore to shore

Can be as transformative as the steps I took

To find comfort in my core

Through classic stormy seas avoiding icebergs, subs and orcas

You discover things about yourself

You may have never known before

I knew that I was trans

I didn’t realise I was gay

And on watch reached out to someone unexpected

At my glimpse of the milky way

So yes a transatlantic crossing is firmly on the list

And the metaphor sits heavy in the ballast of my bliss

When I cross that ocean I’ll be checking off a box

And not just for the sea miles

But for the lines I will have crossed