I am a foolish teenager
And 
My peers and I are irrational.
They say that
because I am headstrong. 
I see that 
I am alone in refusing to stop dancing through life.
And it is wrong to say
That I am strong because of the hardships I have faced
I have come to realize 
I am weak.
It is wrong to assume
That I am strong enough to endure the future. 
So instead I believe
I should give up now. 
I do not believe that 
In a world of fear and pain
I will survive. 

I am alone.
I am not special.
I am no different than the rest of my age group. 
a part of a statistic that demonstrates
I refuse to define myself as 
Courageous
Brave
Different
And I will strive to 
Blend in
I refuse to
Speak out.
I swear to 
Keep my head down
play it safe 
Because that is what is expected. 

But I realized 
I am not meant to follow rules simply

because that is what is expected: 
Play it safe,
keep my head down. 
I swear to
Speak out
I refuse to
Blend in
And I will strive to be 
Courageous, 
Brave,
Different.
I refuse to define myself as 
A part of a statistic that demonstrates 
I am no different from my age group,
I am not special
I am alone. 

I will survive 
In a world of fear and pain.
I do not believe that
I should give up now. 
So instead I believe
That I am strong enough to endure the future. 
It is wrong to assume
I am weak. 
I have come to realize 
I am strong because of the hardships I've faced. 
And it is wrong to say 
I am alone in dancing through life.
They say that because I am headstrong 
my peers and I are irrational, 
And I am a foolish teenager. 

But I know better.