My friends
Sit at the checker top table
Play chess while sipping tea
Intent on winning
Our culture whispers down our spine: that is the goal.

Our culture also told us that
Even though I always win at chess
And I know the names of every kind of tea there is
My intellect is meaningless
Because I am gay.

If I liked boys
Like all my other "normal" friends
Then I would sit on a stage
Applauded for my wins
Applauded for my triumphs
Applauded for achieving the goal.

But no, oh no
Shun me because I am less
Less because I am "different"
Different because culture is scared.

I'll keep playing
Keep singing
Keep kissing who I want to kiss
I know of jasmine, of mint, of chamomile
Just as I know of you, of me, of straight, of gay
I stand up to scream at the whispered culture
I am me and that is as great as anything!