Whoever I am is not something you need
I'm not something you must have in order to survive
Your sun sets and rises in my absence
But I wish that you looked at me as though your world spun on my axis
People don't belong to people
But I hoped you'd want me to be yours
It didn't matter to me how you showed me you cared
With words or actions
I waited with baited breath
But it never seemed to be what you were searching for
It was never me

You've got stars in your eyes
And dew drops on your cheeks
You wake every mornin'
At a quarter to three
In a valley somewhere
You decided you needed to be

And you never call me
But I still hear your voice
Like ghosts on a stairwell
Just making noise
And I cannot let myself dwell

Cause if I stay too long
I just might drown
in the space you left
In the chatter around
My heart beats in time
To the records you played
But I'm still all alone
At the end of the day
Unless you can count your ghost

My mother never taught me anything?
Her soul was gentle
Never treated my body as a shameful object
I was not told to wear another layer
For shoulders were distracting
My ******* were not caged
Because they were mine and I loved them
And how could loving yourself be wrong?

My father never taught me anything?
His arms never held shut doors
So that my short skirt could not get through
I asked if I looked beautiful
He would always tell me so
Not throw me a pair of pants and demand I change
I smiled at my reflection
Why would he change that?

Parents can teach you only so much
Math, science, English, manners
But to love your body
The parts people shame you to cover
Is the best thing a young girl could ask

Let go of the vile feeling inside
Allow the hooks in your skin to rip through
Let them bleed for awhile
Knowing your scar only proves victory
If your head sways let it hang low
But do not drop it
For it is your biggest successor
If your heart beats too fast
Like a machine gone wild
And your eyes tear up
From the cold breeze coming in
Put on another layer
Breathe a little deeper
Be safe inside your skin

I'm not eye catching
I do not turn heads
I'm no more special than the next
For somebody else is always better
Prettier, smarter, stronger, wiser
That I would be moronic to believe
Anybody would stop to stare at me
I'm exceptionally ordinary
But then again
There is probably somebody
Who is better at that too