For all the heartbroken teenage poets whose hearts are filled
with unspoken rhymes,
for the lovelorn adolescent authors whose beloved words
are spoken out of time,
for the forgotten child prodigies whose forgettable stories
are left behind,
this one goes out to you.
For all the girls whose waistbands wrap two times around
their hips because last week they lost another pound
because their twice-pierced ears are pierced with the sounds
of hiss-whispered rumors they can’t beat down,
this one goes out to you.
For all the young men whose fathers tell them who
they are going to be and what they are going to do
when they grow up because their own plans didn’t follow through,
this one goes out to you.
For all the kids out there who wander the streets
and wonder when they might get a chance to meet
the parents who left them as soon as they could stand on their own two feet,
this one goes out to you.
For all the grown-ups who don’t yet understand
that our lives are shaped by our own two hands
and to rest in peace we must make a stand,
this one goes out to you.
For all the high school mimes who can’t make a noise,
for all the football-loving girls and the songwriting boys,
for all the indecisive dreamers who can’t make a choice,
for all the undiscovered souls looking for a voice,
this one goes out to you.