I. A town taken up of all parts of me But somehow The idea of home was never still So escape on route Through the window glass shards Of this so-called happy place I’m jumping the train tracks of my veins In search of a world to be Where the door shuts all the way And my breaths are not leaking... Through cracks In their system I’m running towards you. II. Remember his hands around your neck I can still imagine them His anger Channeled throughout his skin To scold the power... ...of my body- To extinguish the flame that ignites me Almost possessed Could have been silenced But never once branded This was the day I waiting for So that I am Far Away From Him. Remember she promised you We’ve seen how fire manifests III. I choose the family without blood The family that gives water and tender-loving care That nurtures us to grow beyond our roots ‘Cause we were never meant to be grounded forever When we were born from the stars Dreaming our way back home Asking ourselves How do we handle it all With so little to spare? I’m running, and I'm running. IV. Every bus, train, plane, or ship We move from one location to another On the same passage of time Taking up what’s space that’s there Filling in the gaps of what’s here Whether it’s all about family, friends, love, or us Our paths more or less intertwine, And we are on this same journey To liberate ourselves beyond their drawn line Coming in and out of our bodies, our minds, our souls The chills in the streets are more comfortable than the ones indoors We take shelter at 8pm Then leave security at 8am The time we carry our belongings on our backs All of everything we have left From the pieces of our broken hearts That we mend together with our tears and embers They didn’t know we could be. V. What is home? When the Indigenous land I’ve settled on Is not one I can call my own? What is home? When the land my family fled from war I have no memories from? What is home? When this shared space is made an unlivable reality? What is home? When all I have is my body to claim? Do they know that I’m still running? VI. Black, Brown, and Yellow Queer and (dis)abled Femmes and in-betweens You’ve taught me how to love How to dance How to let it all go Swept up in the currents of your arms Be changed by you How to solo How to hold my own- Tsunamis Of ripple effects Of story circles Of transformative magic Through visionary fiction Home is wherever we feel light in the shadows. VII. Dear queer femmes of color You’ve taught me how to be free All the things I didn't learn from Mẹ va Ba, Mummy and Deaddy Denial only lasts so long And truth telling reveals You’ve taught me that I didn't draw men Out of my desire to receive their embrace Let it be known that I’m next in line To sign her or their hand with my lips and ask, Would you go on a ride with me? Pink in color, Blushing and wanting you Lavender essence, Whispering sweet dreams to your soul When I say I'm so proud of you I’m constantly moved by you VIII. Good morning, love You’ve taught me how to run This feeling you spark How to keep running I'm meant to stay on this line And I’m running towards you Not with my legs, Not with my able-bodiness But with my mind, My neurodivergency They call “crazy” Beautiful, I’ve made it Even flying, With these damaged wings Passed on by our ancestors Remaining unbreakable Through his pheonix- Recreated And embodied as my own Fantastical being XI. I could be poetic, But why should all knowledge be expressed in words? When we cannot recall every letter, Only how our emotions echo to each syllable Our worlds are colliding Beyond soft skin And warm recollections Could you feel it too? My family, my home If only temporary Learning and growing together Loving ourselves and one another Bridging differences and building each other Our ability to imagine can bring us anywhere We are powerful as we are vulnerable Sacred in our own making I'm running towards you ‘Cause it's existential to my knowing BY CHRISTINE HOANGArtist Statement: Christine Hoang is a social change agent, visionary artist, and undergraduate student in Psychology and Social Justice at Oregon State University. They actively engage in arts activism moved by decolonial love as a way of resistance, survivance, and reclamation to empower LGBTQ+ diasporic and Indigenous communities with the tools to radically image a world without systemic, colonial violence. "Running Towards You" is a poetry piece on their lived experiences navigating the land, preserved on the blood and bodies of our Black and Indigenous siblings, while recognizing that all of our liberation is tied and bound together.
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