Hi, I'm a Teenager

Hi, I'm a teenager, and my word is often neglected.

Hi, I’m a teenager. What does that mean? What are we teenagers?  Just a bunch of kids sprawled across your streets, spluttering curse words through mouths that have endured the scented smoke of cigarettes and of “meaningless” kisses, trying to inspire our brothers to be “rebellious” like us, right? 

Wrong. 

We are much, much more than expensive ripped jeans from Forever 21s or slang words and contracted-contracted “would-haves.” We might be bees buzzing in your ears but we are collecting your honey, and we will sting you if you disturb our territories. 

We are the kids who have grown up hearing that pregnancy at sixteen is “rebellious,” that it is pricetags on clothes that are noticed rather than the pricelessness of kindness, we have grown up hearing we are irrelevant. 

A few days ago, I was telling my aunt about why feminism is the need of the hour, and she said, “When I was young, I was exactly like you. I wrote poems and spoke out in debates and I spread my words and views, you remind me of me.” And I said, a bit too eagerly this time, “And then what?”

And she said, “Then what, I got married.” 

We are growing up hearing that we are just some kids who will grow up one day enough to realize that we cannot be painters, artists, writers, scientists, champions, lovers, young and old all at the same time�"we are growing up hearing our imagination is bullshit. 

Our imagination is NOT bullshit�"our imagination is overwhelmingly dominating to you; our imagination is to be celebrated and cherished but it is suppressed�"

but you do not realize that we are NOT JUST SOME KIDS 

we are the FACE OF THE FUTURE�"

But the future’s stagnant! Time is stagnant! 101% cutoffs and unrealistic depictions of beauty in photoshopped covers of Gigi Hadid’s body are stopping the world from growing! It’s terrible! 

We want to do something with our lives, okay? Hand me a pen and I’ll return with a novel. Teach me a note and I’ll return with an album�"but GIVE ME SOMETHING!

If you’re going to expect a pen to originate from the palms of my inexperienced hands, you’re wrong.  If you think a note will come to me in my sleep, you’re wrong. 

Give me a match and I’ll burn the place down�"is that what you’re scared of?�"but expect me to “watch and learn” and I’ll always stay on the ground. 

After all… we’re just some kids who never learn, right? 

Wrong.