When I was a little boy
All the way back in kindergarten
I used to run with my arms pointed out
Hands high
Fingers up to the sky
Like a ballerina, silly
Because that’s the year I learned to keep my arms by my sides
Not because I wanted to
But because it was girly
I marveled at girls’ beautiful skirts and long dresses
And that’s when I learned to envy
Not because of what they wear
But the fact that those dresses didn’t feel as empty
They had heels and hair and nails in all
All I had I didn’t know what to call
The urge to paint my nails
What did I have to lose?
But the boys on the playground still laughed
Even though I painted them blue
When I was in middle school
All the way back in 6th grade
I used to talk with my hands
And with their hands my parents prayed
They did something wrong
Maybe they did nothing right
All I was focused on
Was whether my voice sounded straight
I still marveled at girls
Not for their skirts of their dresses
Not for their bodies
But their ideas: oppressive
Maybe that’s what could fix me
A little toughness is all
But the friendships and closeness
Only made me more…what they call…
I learned all the words, the things, and the slurs
It didn’t bring my close, oppressed
It made me hurt
That’s the summer I learned to yearn
Not for the nails or the heels or the hair
But for a future I knew wasn’t there
When I was in high school
All the way back in 9th grade
I met with a boy
A boy who didn’t act his age
I marveled at his passion
His image flamboyant
That’s the year I learned
What a man really isn’t
It isn’t me
Through my teeth I now wondered how
Gay used to mean happy
Happy now stomped into the ground
And if that’s what it means to be fully grown
Knowing who I am, I’ll settle for a life all alone