'So when will you be getting a boyfriend?', they tease
'Oh, I don't even want to get married',
They laugh. I smile. And the conversation ends
Easily dismissed as a joke, some playful remark
They laugh away a truth they've spent years denying
They ignore the reasons glaringly left unsaid
Like the children their husbands have fathered outside their wombs
Like the woman who has ruined our family silently dining with us
No one spares a glance at the elephant living by them
For the sake of family, for what is seen
And then they all think that I rejoice at the thought of having their lives
Trophy wives who settle down, busy raising their trophy children
Brandishing the perfection they're so desperate to cling to
An expensive vase glued together
Priceless
Worthless

Would you say hello to a stranger like me?
The one in the back with the smile you can't see
Her nose in a book and a coffee in hand
Listening to rhythm of an unknown band

Would you say hello? Would you take a chance?
Be the first man to ask my hand for a dance
Be brave enough cause the chances could be
I'm sitting here hopin that you would notice me

Would you say hello? Cause it could all start from here
No one really knows but we might find something rare
A chance of holding on to something that's true
A chance that you're mine and I'm for you

Little girl
afraid
of the monsters
below
her bed
Little girl
you'll grow up
to befriend them
instead

I envy those who laugh easy,
who cry easily, who love easy
I've been so used to
pushing my feelings down
That they never quite
reach the surface on time

I write to rid
of the feelings
that drag at my soul

Your smile reminds me
of my favorite song
And if I could,
I'd keep it on repeat all day long