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One time at a spring celebration
I heard some bicycled boys mocking and jeering,
their mouths slung low in snide arrogance,
and as the festivities escalated so did the harshness of their words.
I sat there, between the two extremes:
the circle of harmony and dancing, fiddle music and love,
and the hate, anger, and antagonism waiting just beyond arm’s reach.
My friends, dressed in their tie-dye and rainbows,
Smiles on their faces and grass beneath their skipping feet
Heard but did not falter.
Their strength echoed like the firm ring of a hammer in their silence,
Their courage bursting forth in every derogatory comment
that they refused to allow to enter their hearts.

 
I wish I had stood up and said something.
I wish I had the courage of my friends’ silence
So I may turn it around into perfect, punctuating words.
Sometimes I think about what it must be like to be one of my beautiful friends,
to proudly accept a label society rejects;
to bond together, to hold each other up;
to hear harsh words, to be judged by those they don’t even know;
to shed their tears of sadness and confusion alone.
Sometimes I want to just tell them how wonderful they are,
how I wish I could be more like them,
how I admire their relentless strength,
how I wish I could break down all the walls they are caged by.
We could all join together with pickaxes and sledgehammers
and break each brick, each piece of steel,
smash apart every inch of societal pressure and judgment,
reclaiming peace on earth in our destruction.

 
If I had found the words, I would have told those boys,
those faceless, nameless people,
that love is something unconfined to any sort of label;
that love is felt by all of us, regardless of our sexual orientation,
that love is strongest felt by those with an open and accepting heart,
and that love will always persevere, will always transcend their hatred;
that love is not found in judgment, and love is not found in anger.
True love, that which is in itself a precious entity,
comes in more forms than there are labels.  

And so I say go, let us all love who we will and be unashamed
for the more we love, the more beautiful we become.

 

 

- Molly Ladd

 

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