Voiceless
I must have been voiceless.
How else can I explain that no one heard me screaming?
You, my teacher, who got after me for being distracted.
Didn’t you see the bags under my eyes, and wonder why I was getting no sleep?
You, the principal, who got after me for getting angry at my classmates
Hadn’t they told you the names I was being called?
You, my gym coach, who got after me for not wanting to change with the other boys
Did it ever occur to you to ask me why?
Or why I was bleeding from my backside ?
And you, my classmates does your youth excuse your cruelty?
Did you ever stop, ever think, ever feel ?
When you called me a sissy, did you see something I was trying to hide?
Or was it just the worst insult you could think to give me?
I wish I had found my voice then.
But I would have gotten hoarse from screaming ...
Well, guess what, all of you.
I found my voice now.
And it was the voice of a woman, not a boy.
And I will never be voiceless again.