For Those Who Have Considered Suicide When Who They Are Is Not Enough

For the days when your skin feels inadequate And you want to escape from it When you've scrutinized every fiber of your being & want to trade in your reflection When you don't look right juxtaposed next to the picture of that model They tell you your skin is too dark to be anything pretty And you're the guy in third block with the funny-looking glasses, the no-name brand clothes who loves to learn Keeps to himself, never bothers anyone But everyone bothers you the girls don't pay attention to you except for a joke And everybody cackles jackals tear pieces out of you For amusement Fist strike, blood runs Eyes are red like stop signs, But can't slow down tears as they speed down your cheeks For the lonely times When you can't find friends In the classroom, hall, or your home The times when your body, walk, slang, & style don't fit in and they tell you to cut yourself down to match a space in their jigsaw "Be like everyone else" Finding yourself in a world full of Viceroys Imitations of Monarchs society calling you caterpillar because you have yet to metamorphous into these half-clones they have never eaten the scales of King Billy but poisoned their originality all the same And they want you to do the same Camouflage colors and blend in Nobody likes an outsider, and everybody's scared to be one Some are cowards. Afraid to be by themselves They want to fit in and be secure with undercurrents of self-consciousness And be appeasing Looking to others to feel justified in what they do, how they look, who they are They can't stand alone And for the times when you feel like an outcast When you find disgrace looking in the mirror And feel you deserve what they give you for simply being Remember to be lion Be a lion with no pride, but have pride all the same Pride in yourself, how you were made Be courageous, mighty, and strong Even when you're walking by yourself Strut with your head held high Speak as boldly as a roar against the evening sky and proclaim your existence Make everything feel your presence Let them know that you can stand alone because you have no fear Make everything in the room quake & wonder at how you could be yourself so boldly and have no shame Stalk the earth like you are entitled to it and refuse to hide Hug yourself late at night when you have to Fight when you need to Let nobody drag you through the mud Command respect And love yourself enough not to accept anything less than what you really deserve Because you deserve so much better