Old Enough

by Haley Jakobson

“Ah, the clutches of capitalism and the quest for hydration and a dope aesthetic. I feel you.”

What was routine for you was rebellious for me.

I came from the land of I Want to Be Her and had no idea that was a telltale cover-up for I Want to Date Her.

A cis boy wearing eyeliner who introduces himself with his pronouns is fucking bisexual catnip.

How well she knew me, and how little, broke me. I couldn’t explain this to her.

the Band-Aid was hot pink and shiny, no one would ask what was underneath.

The nuances of your dilemmas do not only belong to you, do you understand?”

“Downloading Snapchat for a cis guy might be the most biphobic thing you’ve ever done.”

Everything that had made her choose the life she was living now had cost her the ability to be the person I needed her to be.

“There’s far too much focus on dysphoria, on the pain and trauma of the trans experience, and it’s time to change that narrative. We should not have to prove that we are lacking joy in our gender to get the gender-affirming care that we need. We deserve care, period.”

You make me feel like the teenager I never got to be.

We’re old enough now to know that joy is not dependent on another person, no matter how much we want it to be.