Author Of Me

They circled my desk

Red pen on my dreams

Said “that’s not for you”

Like they knew what it means

Laughed at my notebook

When I said “I’ll write scenes”

Folded their paper planes

Threw them at me

But I’ve got pages they can’t see

Colors they’ll never believe

Every name they called me

Just turns into ink on my sleeve

Ignore them

I’ll be who I wanna be

You don’t get to author me

I’m an author

A dancer

A singer

Heart on my sleeve

It lingers

Say what you want

I’m still gonna chase these dreams

You don’t get to

You don’t get to

You don’t get to author me

They roll their eyes

When I dance down the hall

“Too loud

Too much”

Yeah

I’ve heard it all

But these feet remember

Every beat

Every fall

I get back up again

Taller than before

Your little jokes don’t own my name

I turn the hurt into a flame

Every whisper

Every shove

Just pushes me deeper in love with who I am

Be a poet

Be a coder

Paint the sky or climb the border

Wear the glitter

Rock the braces

You’re a star in all the spaces

[soft

Almost spoken]

If they point

If they laugh

Let them fade into the back

They can talk

We’ll just breathe

We decide what we believe

I’ll be the author of me (of me)

You be the author of you (of you)

We’re not the names that they choose

We’re every dream we refuse to lose