In my pre-teens, the sun did shine,
I danced and romped, laughed and played.
Then it was all taken away,
And for five and a half long years,
The clouds were so dark, and my tears
Were more than the rain.
I was a happy child,
Whose manner was mild,
Who liked to jump rope,
But to my selfish mother, nope,
I wasn't allowed to play.
Then came the dark day,
When she bundled me up
And said 'here is your cup,
Full of harshness and brine,
Drink dear child of mine,
And know that in this world,
A boy cannot be a girl.'
I was taken away that fearful day,
From all I had known, and held at bay
By the powers that be,
Saying I cannot be me.
I was a child of twelve,
Who cried and tried to delve,
Into a secret world,
Where I could be this girl,
Who cried for a mother's love,
But who refused to budge,
Because her son was dead,
And she just couldn't bed
All of her anxieties and fears,
Of what people would think and say,
Causing her child to cry more tears,
Every night and every day.
Oh why could she not see,
That I just have to be me?
Barbara Lynn Terry
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/i-just-have-to-be-me/
