Meghan O'Hern

AN OPEN LETTER TO MY PARENTS

Listen to Audio Version read by Sean Mahoney.

I hope you understand,
I'm learning to accept my
Renewed identity,
The name given to me, a cage
I've locked inside
parts I know you won't
approve,
my name is not a home
built for me, but destined to fail.
No one calls me, that, ancient

History
I hope one day you understand
I've found a new identity
I know you didn't see
Me, coming
couldn't feel the
years of trying
to deny myself folded

into the boxes of the binary
Tangled all about; Im sorry
this poem
will be shared
to a room full of strangers
before I tell you the truth. I'm finally happy
With Mason, a name like

An empty jar filled with endless possibilities
My pronouns
changed now, too,
What once was she, her, hers
Now is
They. Them. Their
feel safer than I ever could
no more hiding,
I unlock my binary cage.

Meghan O'Hern is studying English and Creative Writing at Bradley University. They have previously been published in The Basil O'Flaherty: Volume 1, and Writehouse Ink: Volume 1. When not writing poetry, they can be found drinking too much coffee with friends. Meghan is eternally grateful to Writehouse Ink for being a constant inspiration, and always being a safe place to land.