Born a girl

But read a book

And now what is she,

A he

An it?

Doesn’t she know the pain he causes others

When it

Or xe?

Decides a thousand things

In a single day?

 

For a moment,

A musician

Then an electrician.

I think not!

For who cuts wires

When they can trim flowers

Or fight to the death

And write till the rest

Decide that they’ve had enough

And in a moment

She goes from hero to zero

Because she changed her future

From success to a mess

Of uncertainty and unwanting

Shifting on sand castles

For she hates the hassle

Of choosing one fate

Because she can’t conjugate

A single dream

Into a thousand things

Until one passion

Stands above the rest

And says

“I am the best!”

But she

(Or he?)

Cannot invest in the best

Because she does not know

That what she forgoes

Is, in fact,

All that she needs

In this world

That she has hurled

Violently into the streets.

 

Man of many hats?

What a copycat!

For she cannot see

Beyond her immaturity

Of being more than one thing

All these decisions,

Her vision

Blurring and the screams blaring

Because the disease she carries

Can’t see that she

(A he?

A child is all!)

Is a human like any other

And doesn’t need to copy her brother

To discover

That she,

Above all else,

Is more unique

Than the freak

That called her a copycat

But I guess that

It’s okay

Because I might weigh

That she is me

And I am her

And together we

Run in circles

Calling each other names

“Designer”

“Writer”

“Robot maker”

“Cake baker”

Better batter up

‘Cause I’m not gonna tell you

What you’re signing up to do

Until the moment you

Submit the application

That will dismiss

Your aspirations.

 

And fifty years from now

I’ll ask her

And she’ll ask me

‘Cause we won’t be free

“Hey, copycat,

Did you arrive at

Your dream

Or did you

Take one for the team?”