COME HERE

COME HERE

Come here, I do not have a cloth
But my thumbs and some spit will do the trick
Don't cry, it's always the same, right?
This is what they ask
This is what they get
They always get what they want

We have not been ourselves for so long
That we have forgotten to be us
Almost
But not completely
Oh, never completely
As long as you're with me we exist

We are boys, we should stick together
Come here with your mouth
I'll kiss it better
Much better
Right? I'll hold you and rock you
And wipe down your tears with my thumbs

One day we'll be free, be together
Until that day we are their clowns
On the outside
Only the outside
Inside we are free, always have been
A freedom so deep they can't reach it

***

- Darren White, 2016
Written for Goodreads YA LGBT BOOKS.
September 2016 prompt