This is a poem for all the happy girls out there, specifically the ones who possess such intellect but are silenced. These girls have a societal assumption made about them that wears down their self-esteem. We are told happy girls cannot be smart, so we must be dumb. It is due to that assumption that we don't get to grow to our fullest potential. Instead we are left in the dark, craving to join the rest of the world in light. This is a poem for the happy girls who deserve to be treated with respect and be commended for the intelligence they do hold.

happy girls ain't dumb.

i try to smile most of the time,

but it seems to do me worse than good.

i choose positivity

i am forced to choose idiocy.

what i would give to join in on a conversation with those intellectuals.

the conversations that make your brain really think.

or even to join in on those conversations with my peers without shots fired at my self esteem.

yes, that would be nice.

a single conversation without the words,

"You just wouldn't understand."

or the backhanded kindness of,

"You're just too pure for the world."

but, happy girls ain't dumb.

the obscenities that fill my mind as i am dismissed from peers.

the same peers that say they relish in my happiness.

the same peers who place me in a corner like a child.

my desire to be treated as an equal,

can only be met when i sacrifice happiness.

So, what is a girl like me to do?

She will sit in silence with a warm smile on face.

She will speak only when spoken too.

She will keep her obscenities in her mind.

She will be kind.

If a happy girl cannot be smart, the least she can do is keep giving up her heart.