Gatekeeping
Put on a show for all to see or rather wear a disguise and try my best not to be seen.
To be seen for who I truly am, could spell the end for the life I have created.
It happened slowly not all at once.
Being the good girl became who I am.
Never late, never miss a deadline.
Never lose my cool and don’t dare cry when others can see.
Don’t wear anything that draws too much attention, and don’t talk or laugh too loud.
Don’t inconvenience anyone, make sure not to upset them, and don’t I dare do anything silly and embarrassing.
Don’t talk about politics or religion, because maybe my views don’t align with theirs. Just nod my head and say a lot without really saying anything.
All of this, because I learned a long time ago that being expressive is often not accepted. I can be too much. Best to play it safe.
So now I consider myself a gatekeeper to my true self, and only when I am alone can I take some time off.
As I look around, I wonder if gatekeeping is a popular profession, but I suppose I would never really know.
Gate Fate Plate
Gate gate late fate. Always a gate in the way. You don’t notice until you try to move. Keeper creeper reaper, doesn’t matter, they blur into one face if you stare too long. The latch clicks.
Gatekeeping, that’s the word. Don’t belong, don’t qualify, not pure. Funny, purity’s the filthiest idea I know. Velvet rope tied around nothing and we still line up for the wafer.
Maybe time keeps it. Seconds stacked like bricks, hours welded shut. Tick tick tick—the sound of the microwave reheating last night’s pizza slice or the bouncer’s flashlight snapping on. No passage without a wristband. No tomorrow without today. No end without—
Or maybe words keep it. Words retort. You name the thing and the thing shrinks. Tree becomes cross, forest becomes burden, love becomes vow.
I see the guard, tall, faceless, keys jangling like change in a dryer. He’s smiling. Not because he won’t let me pass but because there was never a door. Only palms pressed against air. Only a silence that doesn’t answer.
Gate fate plate. The rhyme holds like a handrail. I walk it. I laugh. The keeper dissolves when I stop keeping. The gate collapses when I stop believing. And sometimes, in the quiet, I still hear that latch click.
Histories Gatekeeper
Gatekeep history —
truth turned to mystery.
America, now shrouded
by the tales we find most proud.
The Smithsonian cracks,
as memory backtracks —
as if forgetting the past
dissolves the caste.
Colleges crumble,
while intellect stumbles.
Aimed attacks,
on diversity — and facts.
Erase the Natives,
our theft of their land.
Deny Black history,
immigrants’ hands.
End women’s choice,
silence her voice.
Let gender studies cease —
our story’s up for lease.
So gatekeep, if you must,
in a future built on patriotic lust.
For the gatekeeper holds a crown unjust,
built on lies and broken trust.
For every gate he seals with pride
marks a truth he tried to hide.
The Closing of Open Doors
psychologists say there are five fears
from which all other fears stem
like digits, as manufactured,
the handful presumably
Natural, like
...extinction,
...mutilation,
...loss of autonomy,
...separation, and ego death...
to quote from Psychology Today
in this list, the median we see
of aggregate sum, or mean
centers on loss or losing...
which is to say
the irrevocable closing,
of the slatted gate...
09.11.2025
Gatekeeping challenge @Last
This is Hardcore
Feeling like I never belonged
I latched onto a scene
Loud, angry and dirty
It had the same energy as me
Internalized my environment
Became the noise drowning me out
Forced to be quiet for so long
It felt good to finally open my mouth
I became a human bullhorn
There was no keeping my voice down
From seeing red and being cornered
It felt like I had choices now
I found my trusted allies
This feels like sacred ground
Its the smile after getting hit in the pit
When I knew my place was found
Its ours, not yours, and it alway has been
But if youre feeling it at all you could be considered a friend
Can't choose to have this in your bones, you don't have to pick
Youre family now, tell em gatekeep this dick
Defeat
Yes, I was defeated in every way.
I awaken in the morning with a massive headache.
I brushed my teeth and cracked the brush head.
I had some coffee that was left for the dead.
I drove to the job, and caught a flat tire.
When I arrived, I was fired because the job does not rehire.
I drove to unemployment to find another job.
I stopped to eat at my favorite place but they had been robbed.
To end a beautiful day I headed home to find my bills in a stack.
Eviction notice on my door,
Damn.. I might as well pack!