"Be yourself"

I hear that a lot

But it's hard to be myself when people hate me

 

"Be yourself"

My mother said in one ear

As society said in the other to change everything else

 

"Be yourself"

My friends said

While the people who hated me pushed me into the lockers

 

"Be yourself"

My teachers said 

While the other students hated my brain

 

"Be yourself"

She would whisper

While loving somebody else

 

"Be yourself"

I mocked to the mirror

While I pulled the knife down my arm

 

"Be yourself"

They treat it as the most important thing I can be

While they choose who's important by the face they put on for the papparazzi

 

"Be yourself"

It's the mantra I hear every time my hand reaches for the pills in the bathroom

 

"Be yourself"

It's not what they really want

 

"Be yourself"

What they want is for me to be their idealized version of me

 

"Be yourself"

They want to see a girl, not a boy

 

"Be yourself"

They want to see shaved legs and a perfect face and eyes that don't fill with tears

 

"Be yourself"

I would, if they really wanted me to.