YOU/WE

I never saw you for who you were I never saw us for who we were 

Only a tainted version of what they wanted

You to be Us to be

      Looking at old photo albums I always seem to skip

Your pictures Our pictures 

  After the ages of eight and nine, there seems to be something missing 

You never smile with your eyes We never smile with our eyes 

That joy is no longer in the creases, replaced instead with a hollow duty

to satisfy their needs instead

Your own Our own

You became the jester We became the jester

Only to repudiate others

For seeing you that way For seeing us that way  

You carved the perfect cage We carved the perfect cage

And now seem surprised

You can’t break away We can’t break away

Now when I look in the mirror

I can’t recognize your face I can’t recognize our face 

I am a stranger in my own body 

Both past and future reside within me 

But I cannot greet what I cannot see 

When I see

You only as You Never as a We