Freedom

I found a bug on the sidewalk today

And I picked it up to bring to you

Because I know how much you like bugs

But as it crawled in the darkness of my intertwined fingers

I realized how much it wanted to fly

And I didn’t want to be the one to stifle that

So I opened my hands and it flew into the sky

And I realized that life isn’t meant to be lived in a cage

Because that is one messed up life

Living behind bars

Only seeing the daylight

But never feeling the burn

I remember when scraping you knees brought tears to your eyes

But now I want to scrape every bone in my body

And rise with the skyscrapers

To touch the clouds and shoot for the moon

And even though I’ve missed the bullseye,

This red cape has caught the bulls eye

And I’m no superman,

I’m just a girl looking for a average man.

My gun is cocked and loaded

But the game of russian roulette always has somebody losing

And all I can do is hope it’s not me

But hope seems to only be brought by Obama these days

And I don’t know if I want his hope

When it’s only brought for the praise

And its bought through a haze

And those kids with their bugs and scraped knees

They aren’t learning music or history or art

Because the truth is they aren’t learning anything at all

And 10 years from now, they’re going to be sitting in the mall with a baby on their hip

And an unreachable dream on the tip of their tongues

And it gets swallowed down by every glare of all the other mothers walking there.

But the truth of it is

It’s hardly their fault because

Their education was taken from them

The money their school lacked

Was shipped overseas

And given to soldiers

And I appreciate my freedoms as much as everyone else

But not when they come at the cost life

Not when innocent people are dying

Not when I know that your friend or my brother or her sister could die

I don’t want that kind of freedom

Because that’s being bought at much too high a price.

For freedom can be found elsewhere

Freedom and hope never come from governments

Or rulers, because they have us down on our knees

And the cold metal of their guns is felt on the back of our necks

And they force us to pledge allegiance

To something we don't believe in

So with my right hand over my bleeding heart.

I’m saying ***** it, because I don’t want it

I turned 18 and signed up to vote

But I never check a box in my life,

Except those ones to get into college

And when I checked those, the pen felt so heavy

Because I knew they were boxes that many didn’t get to check

So here’s to the kids that have never had someone to pick them up when they fall

Here’s to the teen parents whose own parents led them astray

Here’s to the soldiers fighting in an unending war

Here’s to the kids in the ghetto who are looked down upon because of the color of their skin

You know, the ones that never had a chance to begin

Here’s to the kids that are chasing their dreams and breaking the stereotypes

Forget what they said

You are strong and you are capable

So follow your dreams

And don’t look back

Run towards your goals

And never lose track

You can be whoever you want to be

Don’t forget those times when you said you wanted to be a doctor

Or a lawyer

Or an astronaut

Don’t be swept up into the world of I cant’s and I don’t know hows

But leave that world behind,

Flying high into the sky

Be the heroes, the super-mans, the ones that bring true hope

You’re the freedom

You’re the hope

You’re the star of a black sky and a sold-out show

You’re the one that everyone wants know

And when you feel caged in,

Remember to open your hands

Let go

And find your freedom

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