Quiet Yell

It was a normal period,

Keeping my head down,

But they just had to say

Something to make me cry.

“It’s not a slur!” they protest,

My spine goes ramrod straight,

I wish they could just stop,

You gave me a heart attack.

I stand with a shake in my body,

Dozens of eyes stare into me,

I don’t speak up a lot,

But this made me yell.

I won’t bore you with the detail,

It’s not a good story to tell,

But I was scared,

Outing yourself is never fun.

So I stood tall for those like me,

Our way of life called a slur,

Because what could the quiet kid do

When all she had was a heart?