His Heart Kept Saying No

Everyone told him to come out His LTBGQ friends anyway All six of them For that is how many lived in his small town in the Midwest in the heart of Nebraska The pressure was great, and part of him yearned To say something to his parents To test the water, To see if they would still love him It was a quandary But his heart kept saying no His friends did not let up. They hounded him for years. Everything in his heart said no. He did not feel ready Until he was seventeen. When he finally did Thinking it would be a relief. They loved him after all. He spent the rest of the year Sleeping on friends couches Waiting for high school to end So he could leave town Never returning