I was reading
When I realized
From this book

We aren't
What we say
We are

We are so much more
Than numbers
Numbers on a scale
On a ruler
On a tape measure

More than numbers
On our clothing

But that's what
Everyone
Defines us by

They say we are percentages

We are only one
In seven billion

Why should anything
Go right

We have something
Every one in five gets

Why should we feel special

They say we are standards
Like clear skinned
Tan
Gorgeous

And brains don't matter
As long as we are
Clear skinned
Tan
And gorgeous

They say we are dollar signs

That those who are poor
Should not even
Glance their way

And those who are rich
Are
Always
Stuck up
And ******

That the brand
That costs less to make
But is mass produced
And more expensive
Is better
Than the cheap stuff we all wear

They say we are the change
This world needs

But they don't mean it

They mean
They want us to try
But they won't let us get near
The power

But that's not what we are

We aren't numbers

We aren't percentages

We aren't standards

We aren't dollar signs

We are stories
Passed down from people
Who knew
What they wanted us to know

Like the time
My grandma accidentally knocked
Her favorite and only doll
Into the hole in her outhouse

Or the time we all sang
As one
In a happy melody

We are memories
From times
And lifetimes
Past

We are stars and planets
Distant yet
Present
Bodies
So elusive
Thereby so intriguing

The only thing
We really want
Is to fly in stardust
And dance in a moonbeam

We are dreams
That maybe won't come true
But will give us the best adventure
When we find out
How to live them out

We are heartbeats
That beat at night

We are bugs
In this garden of life
Because without us
There would be no point

We are flowers
That tickle your nose
On a warm spring day
When you reach down
To smell its fragrance

We are shoulders
To cry on

We are roads
To walk on

We are smiles and laughs

We are childhoods

We are balloons and bubbles

We are winters

We are springs

We are summers

And we are falls

We are the heat
And we are the cold

We are the change
We want to see
In an upside down world
Only we can change

We are people on the corner
Begging for some coins

We are souls
Thirsting for reprieve

We are hearts
Trying to love as much as we can

We are sadness
And we are joy

There are things
We can see
And things we can't

But after everything
Every word
We speak

We are so much more
Than what they tell us
Day after day

We are the world
And this world
Is ours
So take it from someone
Who has been invisible her entire life
Until they berated the silence
Out of her

In words
That changed to sorrows

And hits
That turned
To beauty

Because she can be beautiful
In this
Crazy
Twisted
Yet absolutely stunning
Life