The One Thing Teens Want Parents to Change

A poem

to my parents, I wish these words could be said, I wish words said could be understood, I wish words understood fueled action.

suggestions like be chill and have a better temper, or to stop assuming they know how I feel, or to stop comparing me to other children and instead help and support me.

I wish that they would start accepting me, be respectful and use the right pronouns.

But most of all I heard from you that while some said they wanted everything about their parents to change some also wanted nothing to change at all, or that the only thing they would change about their parents would be that they were alive.

though I said these were my wishes, that was a simplification — these represent the words, the wishes of multiple interlacing stories of individual people wishing that for once, their voices could be heard by their parents,

whether it’s because their parents are no longer with them, or because their parents are present but unwilling to shift along with them.

what words would you say to your parents, if your words could be heard and understood, and placed into action?

Lucy Dan 蛋小姐 (she/her/她) wants to thank everyone who participated in this #PromptMe challenge question: “What’s the one thing you want to change about your parents”? If you have any suggestions for what prompt questions I should ask next, feel free to drop them below! Also, feel free to drop prompts for prompt questions on my Instagram.

Read this amazing piece by Imad!