A Permission Slip | A Poem About Living

THIS LIFE

Dear little boys, wherever you are, whoever your parents are,

you were born to be yourself,

To play with dolls

Or monster trucks,

To dress in a skirt

Or a suit,

To love a man

Or a woman.

Little girls, you were born to be a reflection

Of your desires, whether that’s to be a loud,

Nasty woman, or a sensitive

Quiet observer. You can become a mother,

Stay single,

Or both.

For the spirit has no gender, only true

And untrue. This life has been waiting

For you, this life is your stage and you

Designed the set.

My love, this life is your prayer. You are both talking

To the heavens and listening on

The other end. This life is an amen,

A blessed be, a namaste. This life is a promise to let you

Feel, to let you experience, to let you be, but

Never a promise to protect you.

This life is waiting for you to sing

Like you do in the shower, to dream like you did when you were a child.

Do you remember how you would dream before

You learned you couldn’t shouldn’t? When you dreamt

Of going to space, or being president, of writing those books,

Of being you?

Who taught you to stop dreaming, to stop imagining a life you wanted?

When did you first learn that being bold was unacceptable? Unloveable?

Today, I give you permission to laugh again.

I want to hear your ideas, your stories, your hopes, your fears. Today,

I give you permission to be you again.