PAWS TO THE SKY

PAWS TO THE SKY(furry pride)

I wasn’t born with fur, I made it—

stitched pieces of myself into something real.

A mask that finally looked like the way

my heartbeat always felt.

People say it’s pretend, say it’s just a phase,

but they never lived a life where their skin felt like a cage.

I’m not trying to be something I’m not—

I’m trying to be something I’ve always been.

Under the fur, I breathe for the first time.

Every heartbeat says I’m alive.

Call me strange, call me cringe—

but I’m done apologizing for how I heal.

This isn’t a disguise—

this is where my spirit hides.

You don’t see the claws I earned in silence,

or the nights I tore myself apart.

You just see a tail, neon lights,

and think it’s easy to be different.

But every stitch is a scar,

every paw-print trail is a war

I walked alone before anyone called me theirs.

You call it a costume—

I call it a shield.

Under the fur, I breathe for the first time.

Every heartbeat says I’m alive.

Call me strange, call me cringe—

but I’m done apologizing for how I heal.

This isn’t disguise—

this is where my spirit hides.

[Bridge] (Darker, whispered)

If you looked past the surface

you’d see fur sharpened by survival,

not fantasy.

You’d see someone who finally stopped bleeding

and started becoming.

Under the fur, I stopped running.

Stopped shrinking just to fit inside their lines.

Judge me, laugh, call it unreal—

But this is the version of me that finally feels.

Not pretend—

just free in my own skin again.