Binary System

By Nyk Robertson

Trapped in Saussure’s chains
Trying to break free
To remain significant without a signifier
Will I ever gain the right to capitalize my R
and be more than a reflection in the mirror
Can my value be determined outside of the binary system
A zero attempting to become a one
so that I may become one part of two halves
For the fraction of me could never add up to
something worth a whole
You take pieces of my identity
to build your walls
that hold me out
Hold me in
Hold me together
I’m content being held at all
There has never been a place for me
in this binary system
of zeros and ones
I am eternally trapped
as 1/3 of anything you understand
0.333333
Always repeating myself
Always searching for an end
Round me up, closer to one
any one

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Nyk Robertson (they/them) received a Bachelor’s in English and Minor in Creative Writing from Emporia State University in Emporia, KS and a Master’s in Gender Studies from Simmons College in Boston, MA. They are currently pursuing a PhD in Higher Education. Their work has been published in Damaged Goods, Dirty Chai, Diverse Voices, Glitterwolf, Iris Brown Lit Mag, Sidelines, Sinister Wisdom, and Skin to Skin. They are currently pursuing a PhD where their research focuses on Freire's hope theory, student activism, and centering humanity.