There is so much between the lines here. The concise nature of this work really emphasizes this, adding to the poem’s meaning. I really love your voice and tone. All those elements put together really drive the point home. Thank you for sharing!

As a trans girl, this is incredibly relatable in a sad way. The fear of how others will react if I tell them my chosen name and/or correct use of my deadname is terrifying. Especially when you factor in that there are people who will kill me just for being trans. 
You captured this fear very succinctly. Great job!

I usually view short poems with scepticism. But this one really hit me hard. To convey something through 3-4 lines is a very difficult task. This is a topic which is very close to my heart. I could feel your emotions behind this. Stay strong and keep writing!

This comment made my day : D thank you for your honesty!! Your appreciation is more than enough

How you say so little yet so much leaves me in awe, although i may never relate to this on a true and deep level it helps me understand your pain and journey.

god damn! this spoke to me. a short poem that really read straight from my soul

Wow. Took me a second I'll admit. But the gravestone bit really hit.

A powerful short poem. Please continue your work.

I have a lot of friends who are trans and I've done everything I can to support them through their transition. I'm not trans myself, so though I listen to their problems and hear their issues with an open mind, I cannot understand what they are going though.  


This brought me a little closer to understanding. There's so much here in so little it's hard to pinpoint exactly why, but that total rejection really hurts.  
I wish the best for you OP.

The end of this poem hit me like a ton of bricks. I have a few trans friends and family members and while I try to be supportive, there are certain aspects that I will never be able to fully understand. The last line emphasizes a level of immortality in names memorialized in a gravestone as though once you’re gone, those still here can choose to write your story however they’d like regardless of how you actually lived it and that’s what may be remembered for the rest of time. The short nature of the poem really adds to its weight as well, fantastic work!

Fighting hard for your identity in this world to where we are today and then your family puts "their" name for you on your gravestone is really a Big "F" to you and your life. It really ain't fair IMO. You don't even get buried for who you are and are marked as another person. This is a good poem on what trans people go through everyday


Hello readers, welcome to OCpoetry. This subreddit is a writing workshop community -- a place where poets of all skill levels can share, enjoy, and talk about each other's poetry. Every person who's shared, including the OP above, has given some feedback (those are the links in the post) and hopes to receive some in return (from you, the readers).

If you really enjoyed this poem and just want to drop a quick comment, to show some appreciation or give kudos, things like "great job!" or "made me cry", or "loved it" or "so relateable", please do. Everyone loves a compliment. Thanks for taking the time to read and enjoy.

If you want to share your own poem, you'll need to give this writer some detailed feedback. Good feedback explains from your point of view what it was like to read the poem, and then tries to explain how the poem made you feel like that. If you're not sure what that means, check out our [feedback guide](https://new.reddit.com/r/ocpoetry/wiki/feedbackcritiques), or look 

I love how you conveyed the meaning behind this in such a concise yet beautiful way. You are very talented

I feel like this would be something my trans friend would need to express himself :)

To turn pain like this into something this beautiful is a talent. Please keep writing.

Beautifully touching. It hits all the right beats despite being so short, expresses a feeling so painfully poignant… The hopelessness of knowing that you may never be perceived the way you want to be hits very close to home. Wonderful job

wow this is so good, really makes you think about why people really treat others so horrible. im really proud of you. this reminds me of you finding who you truly are and letting go of the person they, but not you, wanted.

It's very difficult to achieve such an effective feeling in such a short work but you capture it so well, a feeling only few would understand fully but those that do would understand completely, if that makes any sense. I really do love this piece and I hope to hear more from you. <3

I really like how fitting this poem is for so many of us in marginalised communities. It's both incredibly specific to the trans experience but can still be applied symbolically to any identity outside of the cultural norm. So much of the time they'd prefer us dead because then they could rewrite our stories back into the boxes they wanted us to inhabit in life. History is written by the survivors after all, all the more incentive for us to be the last "man" standing.

The concise nature of the poem makes it all the more effective to me it. It's almost like a slap in the way it shocks you. If I had to offer any constructive criticism it's that I'd remove the and from;

>and they didn't like it 

To me two ands so close together kind of throw off the pacing and slightly reduces the impact. 

Overall great job!

Wow this is so deep. Some people just got understand the hurt they cause when they call someone a name that doesn't reflect who they truly are. Thanks for this!

Keeping it short, open to interpretation, and violent is beautiful. There are so many ways to apply this to oneself.

They asked for my name, and I gave them mine  

and they didn't like it  

No wonder they wanted me dead—  

My gravestone would have had a name they'd like.


[1](https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/wnyims/my_brother/ik9m5yh/?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=ios_app&amp;utm_name=iossmf&amp;context=3) 

[2](https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/wo9b9s/my_heart_is_a_fiddle/ik9o7mz/?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=ios_app&amp;utm_name=iossmf&amp;context=3)

Deadname (a trans poem.)