Reposted by Eugenia Leigh
“Everyone I have lost / I have lost before the end.”
— Eugenia Leigh (@eugenialeigh.bsky.social)
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This poem appeared in Bianca by Eugenia Leigh, published by Four Way Books (@fourwaybooks.bsky.social), 2023. Shared here with deep gratitude.
![A white square with black text reading, “I remember in a recent interview you spoke about your support of the trans community, because you said: "I see that transgender youngsters are the ones who are helping to take planet Earth into the galaxy because we're going to run into other life forms that our gender does not matter." Can you speak about that a bit?
I think the transgender kids are the bravest kids right now that we see; they're as brave as my generation was in breaking down segregation. They're breaking down
—I don't have the word for it right now-but it's gender prejudice, and [the idea that] somebody has decided that they can tell you who you are, what your name should be, and how you should look.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:wh3pv4fvnxycxhglk6x4ief5/bafkreieq7oulanbcr6xlcc2erzqplov5g7n2wpsk5pnw6i2sth7q5jyrwa)
![A white square with black text reading, “But when we go into the galaxy, a life-form may say,
"Who are you?" Well, there's no point in talking to another life-form and [saying] "I'm a boy or a girl," because it may have no meaning. That may mean nothing to them. So what you're going to say is, "I am a life form from the third planet, from the yellow sun," therefore giving yourself an identity. You don't have an identity because you say, "I'm a boy, I'm a girl, I'm a Jew or Gentile, I'm a Catholic or Baptist." That doesn't mean anything once you get beyond the prejudices of Earth.
So yeah, I think the transgender students are really brave because they're taking a lot of flack for just wanting to be themselves and to have the right to have their own name. I think that's incredibly brave, and I
think that they're absolutely right to want to do that.
To want to own themselves.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:wh3pv4fvnxycxhglk6x4ief5/bafkreifkk2cersgiekwhqwonhhn62py7ddayi4rlmtxtwxth3eagmqkfri)
![Beige graphic. Top text: Brooklyn Poets Auction Fundraiser. Bid @ bit [dot] ly [slash] bkp [dash] give through Dec 14th. Then a headshot of Eugenia in glasses and red lipstick. Bottom text says Manuscript feedback with Eugenia Leigh](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5mh22bu3ox3hiaudqvpke2oo/bafkreicqwkfl4ih7cdtbw47uuo7qqsfgqx3sevic47cwgxsfa5uyholhsi)
![Beige graphic. Top text: Brooklyn Poets Auction Fundraiser. Bid @ bit [dot] ly [slash] bkp [dash] give through Dec 14th. Then a headshot of Eugenia in glasses and red lipstick. Bottom text says 1 hour consult with Eugenia Leigh](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5mh22bu3ox3hiaudqvpke2oo/bafkreicsuxgxzv7hp6kdw2mmyrvbnrjivrsdherrpm5zv3f5mjtscs7mtm)
![Screenshot of a Facebook “on this day 10 years ago” post in which I quoted this Pablo Picasso quote: "What do you think an artist is? An imbecile who only has eyes, if he is a painter, or ears if he is a musician, or a lyre in every chamber of his heart if he is a poet, or even, if he is a boxer, just his muscles? Far from it: at the same time he is also a political being, constantly aware of the heartbreaking, passionate, or delightful things that happen in the world, shaping himself completely in their image. How could it be possible to feel no interest in other people, and with a cool indifference to detach yourself from the very life which they bring to you so abundantly? No, painting is not done to decorate apartments. It is an instrument of war."
― Pablo Picasso
[from an interview with Simone Téry, March 24, 1945]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5mh22bu3ox3hiaudqvpke2oo/bafkreihcfhx3a7zrdihu3s6py6ahatnlcq7k4wvwglhetv547hiich4ftq)
