𝑪𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒐𝒑𝒆- 𝙰 𝙿𝚘𝚎𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝙱𝚘𝚘𝚔

𝚃𝚘 𝙼𝚢 𝙶𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛

Do you remember that day?
I doubt you even do,
It was so long ago.
Not even I remember how old I was,
And yet,
I will always remember
The day you broke my trust.

We sat on my bed,
I don't remember why,
It might have been a bedtime prayer,
But here is what I do remember.
I had a book lying out.
I already knew you didn't approve
Of fairy tales or mythologies,
I'd hidden all of those books,
I thought this one would be innocent enough for you.

You asked me what it was about.
"Tigers," I said with a smile.
They were my favorite animal, after all.
I thought a book about them would be innocent enough for you.
But you picked up the book
And began to leaf through it.
I thought it would be innocent enough for you.
But you saw the shapeshifting prince in the pages,
And sent my mother an email
About why I shouldn't read it.

I don't know why she listened,
She didn't take any of my other books away,
But these ones she did,
These ones I haven't read since.

After that day,
You were never allowed into my room.
And I was glad when Covid and your refusal to get the vaccine
Meant you couldn't come to stay with us anymore.
Because it's not just the books I read you hate.
You don't approve of anything in the core of my being.

I graduated high school,
And my mother said I didn't have to see you anymore,
I was all too glad.
But she didn't want to hurt your feelings,
So I had to have an excuse.
Well, guess what?
I'm done hiding who I am for your damn approval.

I don't care if you hate me.
You'll never see this poem,
I'm writing for catharsis,
But these are all the words I'd love to scream in your face.

Yes, I love mythology.
I have an entire bookshelf filled to the brim with books about it.
I'm neurodivergent.
And you should know my mother never forgot what you said
About autism being caused by demons.

You simply said "we can't rule it out",
But even that is disgusting.
You said that about my brother,
You didn't know that I was,
But guess what, it hurt me too.

I'm queer.
I never want to marry or date or have sex,
And I'm a girl,
But not in the way you think.
This is who I am,
And if you don't like it,
Well, you never have to talk to me again.