Do You Have Anything Better To Do
Than To Cut Me Down?
All I Can Do Is Try.
I’m Not Perfect And I Never Will Be.
Give Me Room To Fail.
I’m Human And I Have That Right.
We All Make Mistakes,
We All Cause Pain,
We All Judge,
We All Screw People Over,
We All Break Down.
How Am I Excluded From Everyone Else?
Why Do You Come Down Harder On Me?
Why Is The Condemnation Greater For Me
Than For Anyone Else That Makes The Same Mistake?
Am I Not Human?
Am I Expected To Be Greater Than That?

I’m Sorry, Father.
I’m Only Human.
It’s All I Am,
It’s All I Ever Will Be.
Don’t Expect Me To Be More Than That.
Give Me Room To Fail.
It’s Not For Me;
The Only Person You Are Hurting Right Now
Is Yourself.

My Religion Is
The Husky, Deep Sound Of Aaron Lewis’s Voice
Singing Of Pain And Recovery,
The Raw, Unbridled Emotion Blasting From My Stereo
And Reverberating Off The Walls.

My Religion Is
The Sound Of My Sister’s Laughter
And The Padding Of Her Tiny, Bare Feet
As She Runs Up To Me With Open Arms And A Twinkle In Her Eye,
Wanting Nothing More Than To Fill Me With Joy.

Find Something Else To Judge
Besides My Lack Of Verbal Communication.
Neither My Intellectual Functioning
Nor My Mental Stability Is Impaired.
I Just Don’t Wish To Make A Fool Of Myself
Or Hurt Anyone With My Words.

Find Something Else To Judge
Besides My Style Of Dress.
Don’t Try To Indirectly Confine Me To
Gender-Appropriate Wear.
I’ll Present Myself However I Please;
You Have No Influence Over Me.

Do You Truly Understand
What It Is To Be Me?
Have You Survived The Ups And Downs
Of A Life Similar To Mine?
Can You Look Me In The Face
And Tell Me, ‘I Know Who You Are.’?

Can You Pinpoint Everything
That Invokes Some Kind Of Emotion In Me?
Do You Have Any Words Or Phrases
That Are The Very Definition Of Me?
Can You List Everything In My Life
That I Hold Valuable?