Pulse Memorial Poem

cw: death, AIDS mention, guns, homophobia, murder, Pulse nightclub shooting, transphobia

Thump

thump
thump
thump

Named after a heartbeat from a genocide
The pretty people laughed as millions died
It was named after his heartbeat to keep his spirit alive
thumpthump

It is a radical offensive act to be gay and to thrive
It is rebellion, resistance, none of us asked for it but we must fight for it because it isn't seen as our right

Just one month a year
For celebration and Pride
In Pulse, people danced
It was packed that night
When a gunman arrived

thump
thump
thump

As corpses hit the ground
Cell phones still ringing
With desperate fear
Slaughtered for love or bodies that were "wrong"
Too wrong to exist, to have that right

All that remains
Are memories and quiet sobs in the night
And the pretty people laugh
As more of my siblings die

But there is, somewhere, hope and light
It is a radical offensive act to be gay and to thrive
So furiously, determinedly, lovingly
We demand the right to stay alive

thumpthump

His heart beats on
As we demand the right to stay alive