I see my friends crying on the weekends, on holidays, on their birthdays

As they worry their away-at-college boyfriends will cheat on them

I see my sister struggling to remember the happy moments of high school

But can’t because she is numb from blocking out memories of her mentally-abusive boyfriend

I see my baby brother screaming profanities

As he lacks sleep from texting his controlling, 7th grade girlfriend

I see myself, breaking another nice boy’s heart

Because I was scalded years ago by mental and verbal abuse

I see every young person in the United States on their phone

Typing, searching, deathly afraid of loneliness

 

I recall my friends as kids, with skinned knees and sticky hands,

Laughing and running in multi-colored mirth

I recall my sister, in pigtailed glory,

Pouring milk on my toddler head for blocking her view of Spongebob

I recall my brother, newly born,

Unscathed by pubescent manipulation

I recall myself, bucked-tooth and brazen,

Attempting to fly in my front yard

I recall every young person in the United States, fixated on the movie screen,

Dreaming of being a teenager in love

 

I realize the people I love are being tormented by this age

Where shoulders mean sex and no means yes

Where being kind means leading them on

Where one individual can influence your life

So your mental, physical, and spiritual health are harmed

 

I begin to hate hate hate hate hate hate hate

It drips, black, from the pipes of the deepest corner of my mind

Forming a puddle of resentment in the bottom on my heart

I hate that the experience of adolescence

Is marred by those who manipulate us

I hate that innocence is wrecked

When we let the wrong person in

I hate that those we love are wounded by those who “love” them

 

I wish my friends would stop and realize how worthy they are

Of actual love post-high school

I wish my sister would realize that she is not her past

And she is not her mistakes

I wish my brother would sleep and ignore his phone screen

And be a kid for a while longer

I wish I wasn’t so afraid of relationships

Because my junior high boyfriend relentlessly stuck his hand down my jeans

I wish every young person in the United States knew

That there is so much more to life than belonging to someone

And that those who pretend to love us don’t measure our value

For in each person is a complete being

Worthy of the world and its real, boundless love