THEY LIED

THEY LIED

Lies:

They taught me to be polite

I said thank you without gratitude,

They taught me to do right and I did 

but it didn’t make me happy,

They said, “Follow the rules” and I did

but it didn’t make me feel safe,

Lies lies lies,

They did the best they could.

Love:

They told me that they loved me

But-I don’t have time for you right now.

They asked, How was your day,

But didn’t take the time to listen.

They said, Go to your room,

When they had no love to give me,

I learned to read by the light of night,

Those stories took my pain away.

Live:

They taught me to survive

In a cold uncaring world,

They said that men don’t cry

So I stuffed my grief inside,

They said, Do good in school

And everything will work out well.

But they were wrong,

They did the best they could,

They celebrated when I walked,

Was joyous as I learned to talk,

 And then I ran and made some noise, 

Sit down, shut up, they said to me,

Or we’ll take away your toys!

When I did as they asked they smiled at me,

When I didn’t obey their love went away,

When I was wild they shook their heads

They wanted me to be more dead,

 I frightened them, I was too free,

They needed me to be like them,

They needed me to not be me.