To my future daughter

I am sorry 

I am sorry for the corrupt world i will bring you into

How you will be shamed for showing too much skin

and will at times feel guilty for not showing enough

 

How one day a little boy might push you off the swing

and you will believe that is love because of course

when people hurt us it brings the ineffable idea that love is pain 

 

Im sorry for the way one day you might feel degraded

by another man or woman’s words

because they judged you based on the surface they saw

and didn’t take a second to think “they’re a person too.” 

 

Im sorry for the heartbreaks that will come your way

but in this life nothing is easy and love is the hardest journey

one will take to even grasp such half the concept 

 

Im sorry for the eerie and unsettling feeling

you will get when you walk home alone at night

not knowing what lurks in the shadows because

even humans can become demons of their own

and for the fact that you are a woman

it gives them a predisposition power over you 

 

Im sorry for the future harassment you will receive

simply because of your reproductive organs

and how no one will stand up against your harasser

because we choose to at times ignore problems based on

fear or ignorance or simply because we are inhumane 

 

I am sorry how you will at times be discriminated against

based on the preconceived idea that white is right

and any other race is second in line 

 

But i promise you i will guide you 

I will help you overcome every obstacle that is to come your way

because as a woman you equally have a voice and the will power to make a change

As a woman you will be accepted into society whether they like it or not

and you will not accept rejection without a fight because we women stand up

for the unjustified and fight against the injustice

As a woman you are held to the same rights as the opposite sex and race

and will not be considered a second class citizen

no you will be standing right by them showing society

there is no limitation to who you are and will be

As a woman you will be heard too because our voice is the greatest weapon of all

As a woman you are important you are not a property to be claimed because 

As a woman you are human too. 

And as a human there is nothing that you are not worthy of

I will love you until i vanish from your memory

especially since i will be the one needing your love the most

I know you will make me a great mother in the same way i know you will be a great woman 

Be great.

—-

To my future son

 

I am sorry

 

I am sorry for the way you will grow in this day and age

How you will be called hurtful names for just showing a bit of emotion

How you will be told to act like a man when you merely are just a child

 

I am sorry for the way you will be told to be strong even

when something traumatic and emotional has happened because

you are “a man and men don’t cry.”

 

I am sorry for the way you will be at times pushed around

by your peers and you will just have to laugh it off and be unfazed by it

because remember  “you are a man” 

 

I am sorry for how at times you will be pushed to act in violence

not because violence is in your nature but

because if not then you will be a “wimp” who chickened out a couldnt take a hit

 

I am sorry for how you will have the idea that you must be in charge of everything

and in then must as well care for everyone and everything else

in the end forgetting to take care of yourself 

 

I am sorry for the way you will as well be discriminated and degraded

through stereotypes and misconceptions

of who you’re supposed to be and not who you are 

 

But I promise you i will guide you

I will show you that it is okay to cry because

it is part of human nature and you are human 

I will show you that you will not be stepped on by

another man or woman but will not act with the instinctual idea

to resort in violence but to be a real man and learn

that there will always be another way

I will teach you when you are just a kid, teen, and adult

and during these stages you will not be considered a man

until you yourself truly comprehend and believe you are a man

but remember you will always be my baby boy.

I will show you to respect a man and woman as humans. 

I will show you that i will never judge you for crying when

you go through your first heartbreak because it hurts and I’ve been there before 

I will show you that you are equal to everyone around you

however you and i have an understanding of who’s who and understand

we’re here to help one another you are not below me because

I will always be by your side

Most of all i will show you to be a man because your father will teach you

many things but not everything and i will be there to show you the rest

In the end , i will love you for the man you will become because-in this society

i truly believe you will be a great one. 

Be great.

—

To my future children

I am sorry for the mess we are going to leave you

And how we are going to expect you to clean it up

I am sorry that your mother couldn’t be part of that change

but i promise you, you guys are just the beginning of a change 

You guys are the beginning of change even if it just means

changing my life for the better