Dear Instagram Pronouns

Candice Joy Oliva

here’s what i know: filipino pronouns

do not discriminate between genders.

she/he both exist in siya,

but siya is not he/she.

siya is more than a binary.

dear instagram, filipino pronouns

do not discriminate among genders.

here is what i know now:

she/her/siya is my pronoun.

talk about me all you want but call me siya.

point at me with your lips & call me siya.

alam ko: you could call me she/they,

and maybe someday they will sit better.

but for now, siya sits—

sits, unlike the way we were robbed

as our parents’ hija or dalaga.

siya sits

and deserves a seat

next to my name.

Candice Joy Oliva (she/her/siya) is a Pilipinx immigrant settler rewriting herself in amiskwaciywaskahikan on Treaty 6 territory, colonially known as Edmonton. She honours and celebrates her reclaiming of joy, in both name and life, through her poetry practice. Siya awakens our collective homecoming with every word, every shared poem.

As part of the Horizon Writers Circle with the Writers’ Guild of Alberta, Candice Joy is committed to telling more stories in wikang Bikol, Tagalog at Ingles. Find her recent works in Loves Me Zine: a love zine for queer, trans, non-binary and women of colour and the Canadian Youth Anthology, Crafting Wings out of Fragmented Things.

Instagram: @candicejoyoliva.