THIS or THAT - a poem

Instructions

This or That The world asks The moment you arrive From that first breath First step Only a child, We ask: Choose a shape Choose a shape And that is what you will be What we will know you as One thing And then some You are that Really, honestly, How can we expect A soul to fit So neatly Content Into one minuscule box They say Be feminine, but not ambitious Not fierce Be masculine, But never soft Never emotional Be a leader, But never admit That you once needed one To guide you as well Be intelligent, Wise A person to lean on But never do so Upon anyone else Oh, how the world loves An easy story One they can explain And understand simply A single thing A single facet A single version of a person That it can nod to And say without a care “That is what she is” It’s rarely spoken The words never said But it’s thought Imbedded Friend and foe Stranger and family You are this Or that I hate it I hate that it is like this That two things cannot possibly coexist And lean on each other Work against and in tandem But intertwined all the while It’s a terrible reality But I know it’s not true I know for a fact Because to me, It isn’t new I know it’s not right Because I see it everyday In the person before me Who I wake with Who knows to stay It is myself And she lives as someone Who has never been one thing She is courage and shaking hands She is certainty Drive, And the questions that keep her up Past the dead of night She is the one who speaks up, And the one who knows to listens She is quiet and outspoken Whatever best fits Is what she knows to be Right when they need She is rough edges And beautiful chaos She is strength She is protective But forgets to allow it for herself She is vulnerability that takes more courage to wield To demonstrate without fear Than fighting against the world But, alas They read one chapter In the story of her Of them all And believe they understand The Whole Book I hate it It angers me That one single star In one universe Is mistaken for the sky And then they think That that’s all there is to it That they can grasp all of her Of them In just one moment All without a telescope Without a second glance But a person is not this Not a single note Not this Not that Not a role they perform well To earn acceptance in the world Because a person is a universe Expanding Contradicting Evolving Balancing entire galaxies of selves That do not need your permission To coexist I’m telling you now You do not need their permission To be this and that So, Dear stranger, My love, You brave, unshakable someone Head these words: Be everything Be gentle and unyielding Be grounded yet untamable Be serious and ridiculous Be teacher and student Be lost and found All at once And simply let them Don’t let them misunderstand Don’t let them write you off Speak up Speak out Wield power in your words But let them think what they do For it means nothing to us The stars were never meant To carry To comprehend The universe Alas, they only ever catch Just a fraction Of Its Light