queer-with-a-pen

think of the children

you ask what is the point

what will this change

what will it do

why are kids walking OUT

when they should be

stepping UP

 

well

in this instance

you need to step

DOWN

 

because you are not

a child in 2018

having to seriously ask yourself

if school is even safe to go to

and if your school could be next

if it could be your classroom

your friend

your teacher

you

you

you

 

as an adult you

need to step DOWN

because this is not an instance

where your voice needs to

be louder than a child\'s

or a teenagers who just saw

their friends gunned down

 

because this is the time for

you as an adult to listen

and mean it

don’t just think of a response

or a way to prove that you know better

because if you have not been through it

you have no idea

what it’s like

 

and you as an adult

have had so many opportunities

to listen for so many years

 

but in elementary school

when three boys chased me

and pulled off my jacket

and knocked me to the ground

and i went to the recess aid

shaking with fear

and sobbing

she told me it was because the

boys liked me

 

but in middle school

when there were so many assemblies

about stomping out bullying

where the students signed their

names on a wooden plank painted white

like that would do anything

and even when i was still so afraid

to go to school that i would

have rather died

where were you to listen to me

to protect me

 

but in high school

when my best friend didn’t

even make it through the first

five months of his freshman year

of high school because he was

so relentlessly bullied

for being gay

where were you

 

where were you every time

that i was called a dyke

a fag

a freak

 

where were you

why weren’t you stepping UP

for me then

when i needed you

to help me

when i was just a scared kid

that needed to be safe in school

 

where were you

every time i needed someone

to listen to me

to step UP for me

to tell me the bullying wasn’t my fault

and i wasn’t alone

WHERE WERE YOU

 

Why are you talking so loud now

making a tidal wave out of

your voices

like stepping UP is more important

than stepping OUT

right now when they are both needed

 

what gives you the right

to punish a student for

believing

and being right

that their life is more important

than some person’s ability to

buy an assault rifle

and peacefully protesting by

leaving school and not hurting anybody

because if you won’t listen to

the children then

goddammit

who will

 

how many children

and teenagers

kindergarten to college

have to ask

am i next

am i next

AM I NEXT

before you finally listen