[Title: Trophy Black Child] [Style: Folk], [Indie-Folk], [Singer-Songwriter], [Acoustic Storytelling], [Haunting] [Instrumentation: Acoustic Guitar (Fingerpicked), Cello, Violin, Minimal Percussion] (Music Starts: A single acoustic guitar, fingerpicking a sad, simple, beautiful melody. A cello holds one long, low note. [Vibe: Bon Iver]) (Verse 1) [Music Tag: Intimate Female Vocals, Hushed, Close-Mic Vocal] Radio and books for friends Crying in the closet, where the story ends And begins... a new name, a new house Had to be so quiet, like a mouse Twenty-four-hour notice, just to be a kid Felt like something I always hid White walls, white parents, strict and cold A story I was never really told. (Chorus) [Music Tag: Music swells slightly, Violin harmony comes in, Haunting Harmonies] Oh, the loneliness of a borrowed home Feeling like a garden, never fully grown Just a "trophy black child" on the shelf Tryin' to find a piece of my own self And a "thank you, Jesus" in my head From a camp where I was really fed That Camp Krislund heart... was all I had. (Verse 2) [Music Tag: Honest Delivery] Felt different from the exchange students who Came and went, and my mom, she knew How to make me feel so small (Ad-lib: was I hers at all?) So I put a smile on, perfect, bright Tried to be her "trophy" in the light But I was searchin', in the dark For my own name, my own spark. (Chorus) [Music Tag: Cello is stronger here] Oh, the loneliness of a borrowed home Feeling like a garden, never fully grown Just a "trophy black child" on the shelf Tryin' to find a piece of my own self And a "thank you, Jesus" in my head From a camp where I was really fed That Camp Krislund heart... was all I had. (Bridge) [Music Tag: Music gets very quiet, just the guitar picking] Flea-filled carpets, scary men The life that I was in back then The mother who just let me go... Which one is home? I'll never know. One was chaos, one was cold A story that just gets so old But the girl who dove into the Word Is the only one who really heard... (Chorus - Softly) [Music Tag: Music comes back, tenderly] Oh, the loneliness of a borrowed home Feeling like a garden, never fully grown Just a "trophy black child" on the shelf Tryin' to find a piece of my own self And a "thank you, Jesus" in my head From a camp where I was really fed That Camp Krislund heart... (Outro) [Music Tag: Acoustic guitar and cello fade out slowly] Radio and books for friends... Crying in the closet... Where the story begins. (whispered) Eyepiercinglove (Fade to silence.)