My Own Voice, My Own Terms

They tell me: Be quiet! Shut up! Your opinions are obsolete

What you want is not concrete

I think: Pampered and primped! You constantly referred to me as a prince

Yea that's what I am

A prince with no voice

How I wanted to be a pauper rather, To run barefoot through the soft mud

But I couldn't pay the price of abdication.

Voiceless and needing to make a statement I broke my crown.

Filled with expectations I know I let you down

I am nothing but a court jester, a clown

Everyone laughs when the clown takes a tumble

A fall from grace, the family's disgrace!

I'm revealing too much I should be quiet and shut up, my opinions are obsolete

I don't trust my myself... what is concrete?

All I know, is that some should tell Ms. Angelou that this caged bird can't sing

His cries unheard

Silence is preferred

A small boy cries also

His screams go on deaf ears

Giggles are seldom heard

Is he mute?

Stripped of individuality, forced to be a shell

Taught and taunted

Taught to stick to the status quo

Taunted for being different

Like E-40 waiting for someone to tell him when to go

So a prince without a crown, a caged bird with no song and a child with no joy

I was all of these...

But now I have chosen to take my freedom

The winds of liberty flow through my lungs creating a sound so harmonious

A sound so bold, a sound that represents me! My own voice, I discovered it!

Finally I can tell them: I'm living on my own terms!