D̶Y̶S̶P̶H̶O̶R̶I̶A̶

☆ This poem may be triggering for some people who have dealt with/are dealing with dysphoria ☆

I am not an amazing poet, but this is a poem that means something to me. It is about my experiences dealing with dysphoria and learning to accept myself.

5

I am a girl.

I know that I am a girl because

My mother says I am a girl.

My mother got me

Dolls to play with,

But I do not want to play with them.

It's not that

I don't like them,

I just don't feel

a connection with them.

So I grab my brothers dinosaur toys,

And play with him instead.

10

I am a girl.

I know that I am a girl

Because my teacher says that I am a girl.

She says that

Boys and girls are born different.

They look different,

Act different,

And sound different.

But I don't think I

Act like a girl?

13

I am a girl?

I think I am a girl

Because everyone calls me a girl.

But my body is changing.

All the other girls

Like to dress up,

But I'm different,

Somehow.

I wear baggy clothes,

I hate the changes I'm seeing.

I feel disconnected,

But it's more than a feeling.

It's a sense that,

Something is not quite right

With me.

14

Am I a girl?

I don't know if

I understand what a

Girl is anymore.

I discovered a word:

Dysphoria.

Maybe that is what's

Wrong with me?

I don't think that I

Am a girl.

15

I have to be a girl.

I have to be a girl,

Because my mother says so.

I have to be a girl,

Because my sister says so.

I have to be a girl,

Because the world says so.

I have to be.

16

Please let me be a girl.

I want so badly,

To just be normal.

I am scared.

Scared of losing

My home,

My family,

My friends,

My life.

Why does the world

Have to condemn

Those who are different?

Why can't I just

Be normal?

Why can't I just

Be a girl?

17

I am a boy.

I cannot continue

To lie to myself,

To lie to my family,

To lie to my friends.

I was never a girl.

I will never be a girl.

Who cares what

The world thinks?

I am a boy.

I am me.

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