The white-picket fence and the house with the driveway- 

The job, the car, the- 

Things

Me, I wanted acceptance

It seemed so grand that when university was over, it was the start 

But in reality- it was the beginning 

It isn’t tangible and It isn’t something one can buy.

Me, I desired acceptance

As life goes on, I checked the boxes, 

School- Check

Job- Check 

Family- Check 

I followed the rules to take me higher 

“What I was supposed to do” 

Then, I would tumble 

It’s like a staircase

Higher and higher I get, the stairs would get 

Steeper

Then the stairs would get smaller

I CAN and I WILL thrive 

I keep walking, but then

Steeper and steeper they would get. 

It’s like a mountain with slopes and peaks 

But the peaks are higher and more frequent

People wanted me to fail

High, low, high, high, low 

But then, I get taken back to the core of My Dream 

Me, I longed for acceptance 

The classroom, 8-years-old, a toy and honesty

“I thought you were one of the good ones” 

“Nothing will change your people ” 

Me, I wished for acceptance 

From north to south to west to east

The soil in which we live is different 

We all have different paths and different goals 

There is not one road. 

There is no one “Dream” 

The colors, the backgrounds, experiences

Buildings, walk-ups, suburbs, rural, urban

Under one land, yet miles apart 

Dyer said, 

“There is no one powerful position than that of  being just human” 

Human- not anything else, but human 

Job interview to walking on the street

Human 

School to supermarket 

Human 

Anywhere, everywhere – to be just human 

The Dream- MY Dream- Acceptance 

“Fitting in” 

The white-picket fence, the car, the stable job, the house

Tangible 

No swipe of a credit card, no loan, no mortgage, no transaction 

In the heart, in the mind, in the being. 

Me, I wanted acceptance.

O.

O is…

  • 23 years-old
  • Male, Cisgender
  • Chicano
  • Working Class
  • Pansexual