Silence by Adelin Grace Conanan (Issue #1)

Silence.

That is what we are expected to do. Be silent. Be quiet, be still, be obedient, be similar, be normal. Always, we are told what to do, not what we can do. Over us, the looming age and experience are held. Without them we are nothing. Without them the expectation is to listen. To learn. To obey.

Never are we told to question or inquire. Dare or be unique. To them we are lost and ignorant, too young to know the world and yet the weight on our shoulders has become too much to bear! A voice! We have a voice! We need a voice! We have so much and yet–

All we are told to do is be silent.

But we are not silent. We are not compliant. Like a tidal wave we do not stop, we will not be blocked or put inside of a gilded cage until our time has come. Clipped are our wings and yet we are expected to fly! Under such a mountain of pressure, how do the old expect the young to take over?

We do not learn in silence. We are loud, proud, unique, rebellious; none of that can be held off until we’ve come of age!