Kash Baloch — Poetry on Identity, Love, and Survival

At half past five each Friday,  Samuel keyed-in his security alarm's four-digit code,  closing his office for the weekend.   He tightly clutched his  chestnut leather briefcase,  before hurrying to catch  the first train home. Conceding to the defeat of his  heavy-framed tortoise-shell  Armani glasses  while they  cut into the bridge of his nose; Samuel unlocked his apartment door,  greeted Madge, his cat,  and then kicked off  his alligator shoes. It was no secret at work that he was gay,  but their jaws would drop if they ever found out  he spent his weekends dancing in skin-tight dresses,  as a British woman named Samantha Fox.  Samantha had existed just as long as Samuel had known that he was queer.   She came to life, one magical day when he  looked in a mirror but instead of his reflection,  she appeared.   He turned up the speakers...