I once had a boy say,

You’re gonna rule this world one day.

This took place in my poetry class, after I had proved to my peers that I wasn’t afraid to express my deepest, darkest feelings through poetry. This took place after they all read the ways in which I invoked emotion just by telling my story. Now, I don’t mean to toot my own horn here, but some of my classmates took that class just to fill up their schedule. Some of my classmates had never seen words so powerful and brave on a piece of paper like that before. So they looked up to me in awe. I was told I was gonna rule the world one day. 

But in that boy’s head, that sentence just simply translated to, “hey, your poetry is good”. Or “damn, how do you do that?” But I would like to question this. I want to question why they all saw me as “uber talented” and wondered how they could write poetry like that. 

Now, here’s a shocker- my poetry isn’t that outstanding. People have seen poetry like mine before. I still have oceans of space to improve. 

But here’s the difference between me, and them, you see- I am a romantic. I am a sensitive, emotional being; I have experienced the highest of highs, and the lowest of lows, and I wear them all proudly. I acknowledge my faults and strive to be different from the crowd. I have been hurt, many, many times, and I have learned from the pain. Now, I don’t question that every single one of my classmates has an equally strong and unique identity. But I do question why my identity speaks volumes compared to theirs. So I ask you, boy, did you say that because you liked my rhyme schemes, or did you say that because I had the audacity to write that I deal with depression? Did you say that because I was not afraid to write about being weak, having bad days, going through trauma, and getting through it in the end? Did you say that because I was not ashamed of my sensitivity? 

Too often in this climate, we are conditioned to fear emotion and confrontation with our feelings. We get the hint that others want us to keep our true thoughts bottled up inside, because letting them out without shame would be “too much of a risk”. They say, “don’t break the glass ceiling, because you might shatter your masculinity in the process”.  We cover our faces, hoping to protect ourselves from the judgement of unevolved eyes, making us giggle with embarrassment when we are forced to acknowledge love and compassion in a conversation. Two friends can’t even appreciate each other without feeling the need to say “hey bro, no homo”! Why must we feel like we have to hide the one thing that makes us human? 

For almost all my life, I refused to reach out to others and ask for help. My body restrained me from using my voice, telling me that their judgement was far worse than my freedom. I had no way to externalize the pain I felt inside, so my wrists suffered the consequences. 

But once I broke my chains and opened my doors, damn, it felt good

I learned that it was okay to not be okay 

That I didn’t have to be afraid 

That almost everybody felt these things, just, they didn’t express them in the same ways 

And now I sit here, in front of you, to tell you that there is nothing wrong with being fearless about who you are and what you feel. I beg you to reach your hand far into your clouded, bushy brain, and unleash the parts of you that remain unopened 

The parts of you that wear a blanket of decay, risking the possibility of disappearing forever if you don’t take ahold of them 

We have generations of unhatched minds in front of us, waiting to explode with their ideas and beliefs and emotions that will keep our future three dimensional

Do not sacrifice that for your own dignity

Call me a cliche, I don’t give a fuck, because frankly the word “cliche” is a mask made by people who were terrified by the thought of vulnerability 

Stop telling boys to toughen up,

Stop telling girls to shut their mouth 

Because yes, people may have it worse than you,

But damnit, your problems are valid, too

Classmates, 

Do not tell me I am brave

Know that I am unapologetically human.

 

You say, 

You’re gonna rule the world one day.

Well I am here to say, 

You can too.

You just have to let out the human inside you.