ALLEGORY Poem: Quiet Rebellion, by Morgan Fleming

Even though they wield their hate like a blade,
carving us out of their vision,
even though their stones shatter windows
and ricochet off the walls of our bodies,
even though their eyes strip us bare,
turning love into something they dare to despise—
we still stand.

Even though they pen laws to chain us,
build prisons disguised as sanctuaries,
and whisper sermons that crack like whips,
even though they try to legislate
the pulse of our hearts,
the bend of our hands,
the fire in our lips—

We make love anyway.

In the quiet rebellion of a breath
against bare skin,
in the sacred heat of bodies refusing to break,
in every kiss that says,
“You cannot take this from us.”

We make love anyway,
because love,
even here,
even now,
is untouchable