"She's only seventeen. She doesn't know the world. We've gotta help our daughter get to heaven. She needs to pray the gay away."
She's perfectly fine.
Her interests are perfectly natural.
But her parents will tell her it's unnatural.
They'll say it's unnatural as they sit in their metal machine on a paved road.
They'll say it's unnatural as they sit on a manmade chair on a tile floor.
They'll say it's unnatural as they search for a religious camp on a glowing screen in the palm of their hands.
They'll say it's wrong.
They'll say it's wrong as they eat a piece of meat someone else systematically killed for them.
They'll say it's wrong as they demand a flavored beverage while children sit in foreign countries hoping for any type of liquid.
They'll say it's wrong as they gather every Sunday to read to children a book of murder, bestiality, and incest.
And sadly, she'll believe them.
She'll breakup with her girlfriend.
She'll try to never look back.
Her girlfriend will try to tell her that sexuality can't be changed.
She'll still trust her parents.
She'll keep looking back despite what her parents say.
Leaving her love will be one the biggest struggles of her life.
How is she supposed to leave her rock when she is the moss that only grows on it?
Scrape off the moss and life goes with it.
She'll hope her next few months at camp distracts her.
At camp they'll say her sexuality could be a result of past trauma.
She'll believe them.
They'll leave her alone in a room to starve for acting against God.
She'll beg for forgiveness.
They'll slowly feed her back to life for apologizing to God.
At the end of camp, she'll return back to her family.
She'll claim to be fixed, but still think of her ex-girlfriend.
She'll give in to her "dirty" desires.
She'll call her ex-girlfriend and beg for a second chance.
She'll say "I'd rather be happily despised than sadly loved."
She'll be too late.
She'll learn about her ex-girlfriend's new lover.
She'll cry and explain to her parents what happened.
Her parents will try to help... not with her ex-girlfriend, but with the fact that camp did not change her like it was supposed to.
They'll sign her up for a stricter camp.
She'll beg to stay home.
She'll promise to go for guys no matter how much it hurts her.
Her parents will say they just want to her "happy" with a man.
She'll give them what they want.
She'll be happy with God.
She wrote a letter that would later be found underneath her hovering feet:
"Mom, Dad, I love you despite how misguided you are, you taught me how to hate and feel disgusted with myself rather than to love myself."
YOU ARE READING
Educated Stress
PoetryThe third collection of my poetry. All of these poems were written during my freshman year of college.
