RPG
Load game.
Press start.
Are you a boy
or a girl?
Pause game.
On the one hand,
I could play
as a girl.
Chun Li:
street fighter
clad in blue
with thunder thighs
and lightning kicks.
Lara Croft:
archaeologist
packing treasure
in her bag
and guns
on her hips.
Norma Beatty:
spellcaster
floating carefree
like golden bubbles.
Sometimes,
I'd rather play
as neither
a girl
or boy.
I once
played a game
that let me
choose my form.
I felt like
a child,
gleefully playing
dress up.
I tried on
hairy torsos,
long hair,
and spiky legs.
Settled on
short hair,
brown skin,
t-shirt,
a skirt.
My avatar
became armor,
protection against
axes cleaving
me in two.
Male or female.
Straight & cis.
White
and maybe Black.
How can I
have four hearts,
two extra lives,
but only one way
to play?
Let me be
a hero
through golden good,
ebony evil,
or silver chaos.
Let me be
more than
an NPC
with no destiny.
Let me be
myself more often
so I stop pausing
and finally
press play.