Not Enough

In the third grade, people used to bully me

Because I was still playing make-believe games

While everyone had evolved into the "big kids"

I wasn't "cool" enough.

In the fifth grade, people used to laugh at me

Because I would read alone on the swingset

While they were focusing on boys and girls and crushes

I wasn't "mature" enough.

Middle school?

That was even worse.

I wasn't pretty enough, I wasn't thin enough, I wasn't normal enough.

No matter what I did, no one was ever satisfied.

Even now, people eat away at me and never seem to get full

They don't know the damage that they do

All around us, people like me are being told the same thing:

Not funny enough, not feminine enough, not masculine enough, not smart enough, not talented enough, not good enough.

People are growing up believing they are invalid, broken, incomplete

We believe that we are

Not enough

Not enough

Not enough

All of our lives we have been told that we are not enough.

So tell me:

What is?