Published in Overland Issue 230 Autumn 2018 Uncategorized what even r u? | Judith Wright Poetry Prize, second place Rae White non-normative flags whip pink f*g umbrellas out of our trans- -gressive / expressive hands we’re marching / crawling / squirming on our tattoo-tanned bellies out from under the wind-whipped rainbow a man on the footpath leers at / up my swelling skirt … but in a romantic way / normative way / innocent way … (aside : i lost my innocence to this bloke branded the Gendered Healthcare System & his love of inflexible formal binaries) in truth, i’m flexible about discrimination : see also : new msg : ur a genderfree male, yeah? new msg : i get it – ur *just* a non-gendered female?! ur a general lack of person / per- -centage / reference point / pride? a flimsy foundation of cluttered pronouns & threadbare symbols? new msg : wait, r u *just* an emoji? let me try again : r u 1 of those tr*nnys? hey, i heard (on the news / on facebook / on this scrawl of foot- -path propaganda) … that ur identity lacks identity / definition / something i can cling to because : i’m shook / a sook / a sock monster wagging my tail / working myself into a state called ‘unable to show you the slightest respect’ in truth, i’m *just* fucking tired of the marching, the crawling (see also : indulging) : see also : exhausted / pooped / snoozed out of the cis-tem & sick-to-choking on ur systemic lasagna-layered revulsion let me try again : Read the rest of Overland 230 If you enjoyed this poem, buy the issue Or subscribe and receive four outstanding issues for a year Rae White Rae White is a non-binary transgender poet, writer and zinester. Their poetry collection Milk Teeth (University of Queensland Press) won the 2017 Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize and was shortlisted for the 2019 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Poetry. Rae’s second poetry collection Exactly As I Am will be published by UQP in July 2022. Rae is the editor of #EnbyLife, a journal for non-binary and gender diverse creatives. More by Rae White Overland is a not-for-profit magazine with a proud history of supporting writers, and publishing ideas and voices often excluded from other places. If you like this piece, or support Overland’s work in general, please subscribe or donate. Related articles & Essays First published in Overland Issue 228 27 January 2023 Cartoons In attacking us, they bring us together Sam Wallman 'What these bosses don't understand is that in attacking us, they bring us together.' (Paddy Crumlin, Maritime Union of Australia, Svitzer Rally November 2022) 2 First published in Overland Issue 228 24 January 202325 January 2023 Politics The end of the politics of care Giovanni Tiso The daily spectacle of televised briefings was not unique to New Zealand, and it may simply be the case that Ardern thrived when given the opportunity to speak to the public directly—in other words, that she was better than others at it. Alternatively, we could say that her rhetoric found in the pandemic the ground on which to turn into concrete action. Either way, the benefits we derived in terms of lives saved from the remarkable extension of that social license are literally incalculable.