A Poem by Jeff van Reen, The Netherlands
When I look in the mirror
the image feels so unalike
As do the words muttered at me
Echoes calling me a dyke
When I see my reflection
in other people’s eyes
I see how they see me
I’m not one of the guys
My dysphoric paranoia
is getting on my nerves
I could never break the mirror
with my soft round curves
Author Bio: My name is Jeff (yes, like the meme). I’m 26 years old and I live in the Netherlands. I have been writing poetry me entire life but have only this week started to share it with the world. I’ve discovered I have a talent for the art of spoken word; this is a world I want to be a part of. I wrote this particular poem about 3 years ago, when I was out as trans but not medically transitioning yet. This was a very tough time for me. This photo of me is one of a series a close friend shot of me. In two days, may 15th, I will be getting top surgery, and this series of intimate photographs was my way of saying goodbye to the state my body is in now. Looking back the photos, it wasn’t only a goodbye, but also a hello to how much I have already changed, how much I have become myself already. This picture and this poem is an “I hear you” to other transguys, but also an “it gets better”. Besides all of this, I really love and study theatre, I’m hella gay, obsessed with turtles, madly in love with my boyfriend, and always observing the beauty and the sorrow of the world; which I then express in new poetry.
