Meet Jack

Meet Jack.

Jack is just like every other boy on his street.

He likes playing kickball with his friends;

He likes eating mint chocolate chip ice-cream after dinner ends.

He likes catching magical fireflies;

he does not like when his friends cry.

He does not like when other kids are mean;

he does not like broccoli, asparagus, or any veggie in between.

Jack is just like every other boy on his street.

"Hi, I'm Jack and I use he/him/his pronouns,"

he says happily to everyone in town.

Jack doesn't like when Mom dresses him in pink bows,

he likes when Mom lets him wear boys' clothes.

He likes it when his friends call him Jack Attack,

and he likes it when they have his back.

Because after all,

Jack is like every other boy on his street.

One day, Jack was catching some fish down at the creek,

when a family came up he had yet to meet:

A little girl with two older brothers,

a mom, a dad, and a dog named Glover.

He waived to the girl to say hi,

because our Jack was not shy.

She came over with her family and said, "Hi, what's your name?"

"Hi, I'm Jack, he/him/his pronouns if it's all the same."

The girl's dad said, "You can't be named Jack, you're a little girl."

Inside his chest, his heart dropped and curled.

"But I'm Jack" he said with his head low.

The brother said, "Dad, maybe he's slow."

Jack walked home as the sun set, confused and sad,

thinking, "Why does it have to be this bad?"

Mom came in to his room to put the laundry away,

and noticed Jack was sad, he wasn't in the mood to play.

"Jack, honey, is everything alright?"

"Mom, why does people saying I'm a girl make me want to fight?"

"Oh, my Jackie. Don't listen to them. You can be whomever you wish.

You can wear tutus, cargo shorts, or you can even dress like a fish.

You can be a teacher, a fireman, or an astronaut,

my darling, you are the master of your own book's plot. "

Jack smiled and squeezed Mom around the waist,

while she said, "Jack, you belong, you are enough, you have a place."

A few days later Jack was dressed up as a football player in school,

when a few of his classmates said he broke the rules.

"You can't dress up as a football player, you're a GIIIRL!

You are the strangest girl in the whole wide world!"

As Jack hid his ponytail in his shirt,

his friends came over because they saw he was hurt.

"Hey, Jack is Jack, no matter what you say.

He is a boy in every way."

His friend took Jack’s hand,

and said “You might never understand,

But please call him Jack.”

Jack smiled and put his arms around his friends’ backs.

The next month Jack needed to use the bathroom at lunch,

but he was afraid of getting punched.

Into the hallway he crept,

hoping that everyone would accept

the restroom he chose.

As soon as he opened the bathroom door,

he saw the older boys were sitting on the floor.

Jack’s heart began to race

as he tried to do an about-face.

“You don’t belong in here!” the older boys shouted,

Jack said, “The bathroom is way too crowded.”

He backed up expecting the worst

when all the sudden walked up Mr. Brockhurst.

“Boys, you leave Jack be,

the poor fellow only needs to pee.

Leave now, and I’d better never hear of this again,

or I will have to keep you in detention after the school day ends.”

As the boys filed out and went back to class,

Mr. Brockhurst told Jack he’d give him a hall pass.

He said, “Jack, you are a wonderful boy and some day you will grow up to be a wonderful man.

Please don’t ever forget to be the best man that you can.”

Jack walked home with clouds at his feet,

remembering Mr. Brockhurst and the older boys’ defeat.

He waved at his friends, beaming from ear to ear,

ran to them and said, “I’m so glad you’re here!”

So please, when you see Jack on the street,

use he/him/his pronouns when you go to meet,

Because after all,

Jack is just like every boy on his street.