If Only You Would Listen

Shiloh Michels, 17
“In the workshops, everyone opens up to each other because we don’t have to be the person that others ‘expect’ us or need us to be. We can just be ourselves and support each other.”

3-Minute Poem: If Only You Would Listen

Dear Mother, Mother.
Have you ever heard me cry?
Scream to myself late at night?
Do you even know that I am gay?
Will you accept me anyway?
All I want to do is run away.
Forget everything that you say.
Sing a song I once heard.
Maybe it will ease the pain.
Maybe we’ll find out another day.
Before it becomes too late.