I frost my eyelashes with black mascara and curl my hair 

I get greeted with bright smiles and kind stares 

Why is it that everyone cares? 

I smile back at each person and wave with a polite hello 

I am met with sweet replies, and everyone glows 

But what if I wasn’t someone you’d know? 

What if I dyed my hair and wore a bare face? 

If I dressed in grim colors and black lace? 

Would you still greet me with love and grace? 

If I painted all my nails as dark as could be? 

What if I filled my skin with tattoos and piercings? 

Would I still be someone you’d like to see? 

How about I cut my long hair above my ears 

And speak my mind so everyone hears 

Would you still be my loving peers? 

If I wore pressed pants with vests each day 

And decided that this is my new way 

Would you treat me like an unloved stray? 

Now how about I wear a face full of make up? 

And clothes that hug my body too tight 

Would you tell me that isn’t right? 

If I was confident in who I was  

And wore revealing outfits just because 

Would you point me out when everyone else does? 

Or how about I had an attitude that told me what to do? 

 If I had a beautiful car all shiny and brand new 

Would you say I needed to learn a manner or two? 

If I had an expensive new set of nails each week 

And didn’t care what any person would think 

Would you treat me like a bratty freak? 

What if I couldn’t afford new clothes or a meal each day 

If I didn’t have a beautiful place to stay 

Would you still treat me the same? 

Or how about I had strong values in place 

And I felt the need each morning and night to pray 

Would you accept me and my ways? 

What if my skin color didn’t match yours 

And I hated being different from your definition of society “norms” 

Would you still love me and my skin in any form? 

What if I wasn’t happy with who I was and wanted to change 

If I remodeled my face and body because I felt trapped in a cage 

Would you call me strange? 

What if my view of perfect wasn’t the same as yours 

And I wanted freedom from a world of closed doors 

Would you say I wasn’t me anymore? 

Now if I dressed like everyone else and followed the trend 

If I did the same boring thing and was to blend 

Then, you would call me your friend 

Now if I did my hair the same as you 

If I pointed out those different few 

You would say I was a person you knew 

If I smiled at your jokes and laughed at every “freak” 

If I did the Same things as you, my mind would be begging me to speak 

Is this what you want of me? 

Because I’m starting to think 

I don’t know what it means to be “free”  

How can I breathe? 

In a society full of judgment and in a world’s rotting future so bleak 

I hate to foresee