“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face:
now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”
            — 1 Corinthians 13:12  (KJV)

“It really didn't make sense
Just to leave this unresolved
It's not hard to go the distance
When you finally get involved face to face”
            — “Face to Face,” Daft Punk

it’s a dynamic fight sequence | kung fu in the subway, green-lit | by some studio executive who probably | has never studied martial arts or cares | about identity. you can tell | the directors | do, though: | once again, in the sickly light, blood | on his teeth, Neo fights for his life | against Agent Smith, embodiment of dehumanization | at first the fight seems futile | dominance shifting | Neo gets up, again, shakes the dust | from his battered body, beckons | finally pinned, train oncoming, he grits | words as he is grappled | rejecting the name and life laid out for him | an identity | fitting neatly into | a manila folder | far less complex | than his real life, his real name | I am talking about Neo because it is easier | to talk about him than myself | I tell myself not every trans person renames themselves | tell myself I have too many reasons not to | and it’s not that I dislike my name, really | it just doesn’t always fit | this person I’ve made myself | unmade myself | the fight never ends for Neo | and isn’t that familiar | point made, he runs from dehumanization | to survive | because this life has a future | it does | we know it does | we know | the names we gave ourselves | mean something | new | the state and shape of things | and how much resistance is possible