After ‘Sogno di Volare’ (2016) by Christopher Tin for Sid Meier’s Civilisation VI (link)
I was in Rapture when it happened,
in the bathysphere. I was learning that I hadn’t been sanctioned
to dock, when the waters and the earth shook and rocked
and everything came loose, and drowned. It took me far off-course
and left me buried underneath abyss, and pelagic depth,
and so much loss.
And yet—
And yet, I am Kristang.
Something grew up, out of what remained to be fought.
Something tremblingly hopeful.
Something more.
Not gills, not fins. Not wings that could soar—
but a lion’s mane.
A tiger’s untamed stripes.
A real man’s roar.
You wanted me to paint myself into a corner;
and I have.
I have painted myself into every fucking drawer,
every closet, every tortured
life still waiting to be free.
This is what respect means.
And beauty.
And honour, for the lost and lonely and forsaken
and those who believe in a world made for humanity
and all its beliefs.
All its ways to be you and me.
What does it mean to be human?
Write your name down here.
Look at it, and be, finally,
at peace.