I yearned to be invisible

believing it was better

to live among the NT world
like my favorite pokemon,
squirtle, inside my shell
and safe and warm

and dry and careful.

I can hide so many
words inside the carapace
of Squirtle: shy, timid,
and yet powerful.
Water I use as my defense.
It not only cleans but unfurls.

And though I’m not eager

for the changes I will make
to right the fetid
conformists and ableists

which as it was were

little bother. But all
the hallway chatter
had unnerved me.