Boys and Girls

We’re all just boys and girls

trying to impress all the other boys and girls…

With our knowledge, our power,

our strength and resilience,

our passion, our personality, our skills.

All these things we’ve dedicated our lives to

strategically developing, hoping one day

they’ll make us worthy of recognition.

Hard work finally paying off.

We want and need to feel adequate,

validated, impressive, envied.

We want and need to feel that someone is proud of us,

that we are worthy of love,

that we have gifts that others don’t, yet desire.

But at the end of the day,

we’re all just boys and girls

wanting & needing & hoping & trying

just like all the other boys and girls.

We’re inherently fearful.

Every one of us.

What if we don’t get what we think  

we so desperately need before our time here ends?

It’s a race with no finish line.

There is no clear path.

And just when you think you’ve found one,

you run into quicksand.

Ungracefully flailing for someone,

anyone to see that we have something to offer,

we fight like we still haven't realized that

we’re just boys and girls.

 

 

 

 

***For anyone who may feel excluded or offended by a strict reference to “boys and girls” and needs clarification: Stevie Rauls and CHLOU strongly support the LGBTQIA+ community. This is creative writing.