I Cry For The Children

I cry for the boys who just need to be left to be themselves To play and explore, take risks and learn the hard way With peers, and fathers and grandfathers Getting the role models they need and deserve From actual males and not the nurturing females Who are now head of almost half of all households And more than three quarters of all teachers and counselors Females who all may mean well, but end up Raising something that too often really isn’t a man. I cry for the girls who just need to be left to be themselves As tough as that can sometimes be To slowly and steadily fill out To become a woman whose whole is greater than her parts. To celebrate and respect their femininity Safe and secure to excel as females Protected from males in sports and social spaces To embrace being female, instead of copping out To try and be a male, while ending up neither. I cry for the children who just need to be left to be themselves To play and explore and grow For the few short years it is to be young To keep their innocence as long as possible And a child-like sense of wonder forever Even if it remains hidden in private beneath a maturing face. To be cherished and protected, nurtured and empowered By the adults in their lives, and to know their elders And the love that only comes from generations of experience. (7/12/24)