The minute I walked into those hospital hallways of middle school

I knew I had been lied to.

The once blissfull saying of:

“You can be anything you set your mind to”

Became a torturous saying for one simple reason.

Just like some used cars salesmen they forgot the astrix and the fine print.

Making this seemingly Ferrari perfect statement

Turn into a busted up van of a broken promise.

And as a pre-teen that was continuously beaten down by societal norms

I was trying to flee from.

Coming to the realization that my greatest hope was nothing more than a sham

To get the youth of America to do some paper work.

Was like losing another finger from the loose grip of reality

That I already struggled to keep.

That one astrix that states:

You can be anything you want if,

You look like everyone else.

If someone can read your gender solely on first appearances.

If you look normal enough not to be deemed,

A fag,

A freak,

a queer.

If you fail to meet these astrixed criteria

Then you may never know what if you can be

“All that you can be”

When the majority of your time goes to fighting a forever ferocious battle of staying alive.

When, instead of spending your energy taking notes for the next test,

You spend your energy screaming at yourself when you walk home,

That life has to be worth living.

Someday those ten thousand voices telling you to burn in hell.

Those ten thousand voices screaming and spitting at you to be normal.

You have a vagina, stop lying to the rest of the world.

You will never be a real man.

Someday those ten thousand voices

Constructing ten thousand cast iron chains.

That, with every word of hate.

Fag

Dyke

Freak

Tranny

Seers each set of chains onto the innocent flesh of pre-pubescent middle school students

And as the chains seer permanently on their flesh.

The odor of scorched flesh fills the atmosphere saying,

They were not good enough to be something.

Someday they will realize that they were wrong

And that if you step in front of that bus or car

You will never realize what you can be.

You won’t be able to take a stick of TNT and blow that astrix off.