The Boy is a short poem, which addresses gender identity, puberty, persecution, and religious beliefs as experienced by the narrator who is assumed to be The Boy. As the poem begins, the boy looks out a window and wonders if it is really he who looks out as the rest of the world goes about its daily ritual of mundane activities, such as the mending of a pillowcase, the shifting clouds, or even the lighting of a cigarette.

The boy thinks about a painful experience with some other boys who had taunted him on the street and his inability or reluctance to return the verbal attacks. The boy wonders how the experience may have been different if he were a girl but soon returns to the paper he's working on, writes a line, and then crosses out a line.

As the boy's mindset turns more...