1. Pronouns in the HR email signature of the job I can’t come out at
2. The way the security guard crumples the rainbow flag left by today’s rally
3. The way I walk past and pretend around violence
4. The violence itself
5. The urinal I scrub five days a week, always filled with piss
6. All the bugs that died swimming in the piss
7. Bus stop closures
8. Bus delays
9. Sometimes the bus doesn’t come
10. Sometimes the bus doesn’t stop
11. Sometimes I walk two extra blocks in the rain
12. The second time it happened I thought I had gone invisible
13. But what would really change if this were true
14. Once, someone threw spaghetti away in the locker room trash, but I got there before the cockroaches did
15. When the federal workers throw away food in the bathrooms it attracts them
16. The first time I saw a cockroach I had to get my supervisor to take care of it for me
17. I was scared
18. And it was so small
19. And my supervisor showed me that if you remove the wand attachment of the vacuum
20. And position the hose over the cockroach
21. They’re not fast enough to escape
22. I never listen when people compare what’s been happening to frogs boiling in water
23. How the frog only knows what’s happening when it happens
24. I’ve known what will happen for years
25. The only question is if I’m fast enough