Faces

Telling people what they want to hear instead of what they need to

While I chain my lips up like a lock and stay silent in this debut

While I tell them lies like my truth is a chain that I can't break through

While I keep quiet about all those things I should have said were true

I give them my affirmation like its what they seek 

When all they ever wanted was a confirmation that what they're doing isn't weak

I claw at those faces in my head as if there's a hole in my heart that threatens to leak

All those times when I cursed myself in my head not caring about what made me unique

You know it hurts when you think you're the freak

But I won't stay quiet when someone's beat up for doing the same

But I won't grow so loud as to pretend as if my existence were a mere game

But I won't cry when those bullies come to me, seeking fame

But I won't hide, as if my broken heart was such a shame

I will stand bleeding and bruised, cut up and abused

By this society where my color is something that I must prove

Waiting like some animal wanting to be approved

I will not falter, I will reconstitute.

I will show them what it means to be different, what it means to shine

Don't hide, I'll tell them, as if what you really are is such a crime

I'll tell them to write their own poems, and not copy mine

I'll tell them that their words will always surpass the ones others make rhyme.

I'll show them what it means to be me

I'll make them feel what it's like to be free

Silence is not such a curse as it may seem

But when you speak up when you want to, that's when you give yourself meaning.

-Age 14