“A Peachick’s Distress”

Bright and lively the feathers surround

Everyone’s keeping their head up so high

They expect the young fledgling

To join them the glory and pride

It all seems too much, too exposing, too uncomfortable

These feathers imply a personality the peachick needs to escape

The turquoise and teals force the attention

And makes them want to shrivel up and hide

If only there was a way for youth to be experienced differently

With comfort and coziness instead of the burning gaze of others

Seeing their feathers ruffle and shine

Brings them distress their family just can’t comprehend

“Why must you turn away from our pride”

The peachick’s family tells them one evening

Everyone knows that they could shine by themselves

If they could leave the world they were were born into

As much as the little one hides and squirms away

And even if their kin allows them to fight against what they were born as

The peachick’s youth has already been spent

Learning how to hide in a world not built for them