Wieners packs this short poem with fragments, as if the speaker can only get out a few words at a time. The opening line reads like a list of labels other people might stick on someone: "coded," "spaced out," "transvestited," "invert." Each one names a way of being seen as different, and the clipped rhythm and rhymes ("doubt," "route," "skirt") make them feel like a chant or a verdict. The mention of "Emily's skirt" is hard to pin down. It may hint at borrowed femininity or at a literary figure, but the poem doesn't say, so that's a guess.
The speaker seems to be someone who has lived on the edge, "travelled the border," and come through. The title, "Survivor," suggests that survival matters here, yet the tone isn't triumphant. "In doubt" and "exhibition's route" suggest being put on display, judged, and unsure of oneself. The mood is tense, wary, and a little defiant, like someone listing every name they've been called while refusing to be reduced by them.