object

fuck being your inspiration

i don’t care if google defines the word with a positive connotation 

because how do they know the connotation if they never even thought about including us in their spaces

and by they, i’m referring to

 the bill gates, the jeff bezos, the mark zuckerburgs of our nation

who are oblivious to the real problems while they sit and bathe in piles of cash

surprise! typical rich cishet male caucasians 

silence our voices by telling us to have patience

that performative bullshit, i see right through

and i’ll definitely pass on their attempts to say i’m an

inspiration – is a noun

a noun is defined as a person, place, thing - an object, 

and i object.

so sick of having to peruse through this game of operation 

under the constant state of able-bodied pity and magnification

but somehow prove self sufficient and give explanations 

while also caring less about impact and more about “intention” 

these “intentions” conveniently ignore

and presume to know things about the complexities of living disabled when they’re glimpsing at the ground floor

sure, there’s the constant fighting for accessibility 

the broken doors and lack of sleep 

but the comments lead to me 

having to reach ten times harder for the key to keep 

my head on my shoulders 

but still

over and over 

they repeat

because 

they feel like we owe them forms of compensation because of their supposed inconvenience in making accommodation

so the least we can do right is educate them?

poked and prodded

brain and body knotted into tiny little subsets of valued knowledge 

to be cherry picked

congratulations! you’ve unlocked

the white man’s guide to be diverse enough – while simultaneously pulling off being a dick 

the way to be liked, praised, have a plaque on the wall claiming a commitment to accessibility; gleaming gold letters outlining his name

and as for the burner we keep igniting, your capitalist lips speak and blow out the flame 

all our insecurities vulnerably undressed

for the pleasure of ableists who love obsessing over whether we can have sex 

inspiration is a noun.

a noun can be an object

we object.

About the Author

Ryland McGinniss is a sophomore History and English major with a minor in Gender and Sexuality Studies. He loves to do advocacy work whenever he can, and honestly you'll probably see some of that reflected in his writing. When he's not busy with writing, he listens to music and one of his most prized possessions is his concert t-shirt collection.