“Torn threads”
My mother’s love, a complicated sea
Crashing waves of anger, tears, and plea
A bond that’s frayed, a tie that’s worn
Leaving me to navigate, forlorn
Family ties, a heavy chain
Weighing me down, causing pain
A childhood marred by strife and and fear
A growth that’s tainted, year by year
But admist the storm a beacon bright
My father’s love a guiding light
A steady hand, a gentle soul
My rock, my shetler my heart’s goal
Through depression’s dark and endless night
He held my hand, a shining light.
Opportunity cost
I will never know what i gave up,
To fit into your descriptions,
Of what it is you call “masculinity”,
And i will never know who i could have been,
If i were never forced to be like all you are,
Or if i simply had the strength to stand up,
Or the power,
Or the knowledge of how to go about it,
I could have been more,
Better even,
But you dictated my words,
My thoughts,
My life,
And yet i wonder whether or not this is your story too.
Connections
The people I barely know
are the people I have made such a connection with
and can really trust them and speak
to them about anything,
voice my opinions,
and tell them my feelings
without being seen as immasculine.
There the people I can be myself around
and they will try help me no matter what.
They are the people I can be myself around
and always want to be around.
Man’s World
I’m just a girl in a man’s world.
Trying to make my own way without offending anyone.
They say women are too sensitive, too emotional, just too much.
But what about those of us who aren’t.
What if I’m too shy. What if I’ve everything bottled up inside waiting for someone to take the cork off. What if I wait all of my life trying to be something that I’m not but long to be.
What if I am Not Enough.
What if I go through this world without finding what I think I want.
If only someone could wipe the fog off of the windshield
that is my thoughts and see what I wish I knew myself.
I is Free
I is rather a hard thing to be
For to be I is to be free
But no matter how I push I down
No matter how I call I a clown
The thought of I can never die
Because to be I is to be free
Oh God I hope some day I can be free.
To be Normal
When I realised I was a lesbian my heart dropped.
I’ve known my entire life I was queer,
but the second I realised I had never,
and would never feel the way towards a man the way I do now about women.
My entire life came crashing down when I realised I truly could not be “normal”.
Even if I was queer,
I could hypothetically fulfil my true Normal purpose in life – marriage with a man and children.
But if being Normal is not being myself,
Why would I ever choose that?
The slurs, the looks full of disgust don’t matter when I see my girlfriend
But if being Normal is not loving them,
Then I don’t want to be normal at all.
I will be Not Normal forever, because that’s who I am.
Lost Voice
As a teenage girl
I feel like i have less of a voice than a lad,
If i share my opinion
I feel judged and mocked
mostly by lads,
Iwish lads cared more
about personality
rather than looks
and our bodies,
t makes me feel more like an item
than a human.
A GOOD MAN
A good man is a man with intelligence
a man who cares
a man who can love
who will love a woman for who they are
and won’t expect them to spend
every minute of their day on them
A good man will make time for his partner
He will talk about his problems
even after arguements.
What makes a good man
To not be mentally strong.
But to understand your mental health
and to learn and make you stronger.
A man needs to understand there mental health
and instead of being scared but be open
and use it to help others.
My favourite athlete is a baseball player called jarren duran
who struggled a lot mentally
and openly revealed it to help people’s mental health
and it’s ok to not be ok.
Girl Factory
From the uniform to the hair,
To the loud school bell blair,
The classes that we attend,
The books we all unwillingly lend.
The comments that you hear
feel like headlights and youre the deer.
Being a student is hard,
like a small fragile glass shard,
being a woman is yet worse,
like an object not a source.
You get stared at and judged
by those who think its their right and should
but they dont understand it
they think we dont feel it a bit.
Its not fair, needing to watch your back,
that we are punished for not being a buck.
I wish for a change, a different road
it would be easier with a different load.
Here to Stay
From the Childhood that got cut short,
To the new found friendships
I made along the way,
My now Stepdad is here to say,
Since I met him things changed,
My Father could never compare to him
because any person could be a father
but it takes a real man to step up
and be a dad.
Fresh Start
In South Africa things were rough
Guns and crimes we had enough
Moved to Ireland to start something new
Slagging and mocking, why? I had no clue
Eventually people saw that i was true
Then I was happy I did something new.
Being a young woman
It is difficult in this day and age.
It’s hard to not be able to walk down the footpath
in your local town or speak to a group of boys in class
but I don’t think all men are bad.
In reality most men are good people
mixed amongst other good people
trying to be ‘real men’.
I really resonated with this workshop thank you for coming!
A New Perspective?
I think the sexualisation of women is wrong
but it also happens to men very often
and it is hugely overlooked,
that isnt fair.
I find women to be very understanding
and easy to talk to
for the most part unless they are a cow.
I found this workshop very interesting thanks.
Great Expectations
As a girl my experience with boys
is that they don’t respect you
unless they have a reason to
but everyone should be respected
either way
whether you know them or not.
That Day
I screamed as I walked in and saw my dog
Limp, lifeless urinating black.
So many colours, his urine black,
his tongue blue and stiff, his little body turning grey.
“Don’t let her see him” my brother hissed,
as I walked in and saw something I’ll never unsee.
The most traumatic day of my life.
Single
I am 16 and a straight male,
If I asked someone out I would fail,
I like my life and happy I am,
Now I have a job and I don’t give a damn,
I don’t care what they think of me,
I think I’m a nice lad with a personality,
Life is looking up with lots going on,
But I still have no woman, what am I doing wrong?
Every day
Going to school today
to all my friends I say hey
I am very happy to see
all my friends as they pass by me
I like having this community
I enjoy interacting i enjoy unity
Going to school Today
yay yay yay.
A Proper Man
A Proper Man
is someone who accepts people
who they are
listens to their friends
are funny
don’t make jokes about poeples
race sexuality etc.
Be You
Be wholesome
and be loyal and respectful
It gets real when first year comes around
don’t change when others do
stay yourself.
What makes a good man
The man that can stand up for the small man
The man that will say his own opinion
The man that will be respectful to everyone
He treats his family and partner correctly
Doesn’t change someone else’s mind for his opinion on an issue
No matter what he will be himself
This is what makes a good man
What is a Man
A man is someone
who is able to provide
for a family
someone that is able
to look after
and love people
and is able to open up
about himself.
A Good Man
A good man is kinda
A good man is funny
A good man is caring
A good man is loyal