To Thine Ownself Be True

I look into my rearview mirror and see a glimmer of my past I try to see through the eyes of the child that I once was Everything was black and white, every choice so easy to make Yet I wanted to grow up and belong to the world of grown ups They could so whatever they wanted, do whatever they felt like I remember wishing so hard to grow out of my clothes Maybe buy some other fashionable clothes from Gap And maybe then wear some mascara and lipstick, wear high heels Why, I would look just perfect, and that would be all that would matter So on that magical night with stars shining bright in the dark, I made a terrible wish- to be perfect without a single flaw And so I resolved to be the first and to be the best Everything must be perfect, from the start to the finish And bit by bit, I grew out of my childhood And entered my teen years, doomed to be hard and bad Oh, but I was perfect! I would say to myself And I resolved to be that way It was not surprising I had the perfect hair and the perfect looks The perfect figure eight and the most beautiful smile It felt wonderful at first, to be in all the attention, To smile so gaily and feel so wonderful It felt wonderful at first, to be invited To all the parties everyone held Yet, one day, when I looked in the mirror, And tried to find the little girl who had tried so hard to be perfect All I saw was the teenage girl laughing and having fun I realized there was really no me, I was no one Just the perfect girl who could laugh off any thing and every thing Yet, yet my laugh sounded so fake in my ears I wondered if anyone else could see that too I was straining to smile, I felt uncomfortable in my skimpy dress I wanted so bad to be that little girl again, with freedom to choose Whatever she wanted, whatever she liked I wanted to be that little girl whose only pain had been her skinned knees And she was true to herself, told herself the truth even when she was walking in a web of lies I looked for her in my mirror, trying frantically just to see a shadow of her But all I saw was many faces, all different. My mirror was crowded with all the different masks I wore everyday My smile was strained; my eyes had lost their twinkle And I just wanted to start all over again Be that little girl taking away that dreadful wish So before you make a wish to be perfect, think again To thine ownself be true, you can never turn back time To take back your wish to be perfect…