I have a dream, that we would all set aside our differences and let each other be passionate about whatever we presume to have meaning,

I know that we all spend our lives wishing and dreaming,

Thinking hard about what we wanna do, despite all of the other things that everybody else is screaming,

If you listen close enough, everybody’s saying the same thing,

There’s no diversity in individuals - most people wear the same bling,

There’s no more individuality,

These days it’s always like: I walk, talk, and feel the same as you do - identical but in a different being,

Yet, “I’m different,” is what everybody stay hollering,

You ain’t different when I see you,

When I see different, I know different, and am different too,

If being the same makes you happy then go ahead and play like this is cool,

I just want everybody to be an individual,

You can argue that it’s not what I want - if you do then I’ll just claim you as invisible,

No tea spilled here, I just like to keep it casual,

But be an individual,

Stand up for something instead of sitting down - yea I'm being political,

When you stand, stand up straight, straighten these crowns - make sure you catch your jewels,

Even if it’s a Burger King crown please manage to be ever so graceful,

Hold your head high and don’t look down because there will never be another original,

Not another Antoinette or another Christa Yow,

Y’all don’t know her but I'm telling you there will never be another you,

So act like you - the real you,

The one you see reflected in a mirror, a fountain, or a pool,

Be like Lewis from Meet The Robinsons - invent the future with just one tool,

Find out who you wanna be - even if you drop out of high school,

Leave behind a legacy, whether it’s purple or dark blue,

If you catch my symbolism there then I really mess with you,

And you know, I’ve threaded together a lot of things that all wrap around one spool - interconnected like galaxies, mixed up like letters in Scrabble,

Create whatever point of view best suits you,

Be someone different even if it hurts or it’s or not cool,

If you wanna be the same as the person next to you then you might as well file out of a clown car one behind the other because you look like a fool,

Don’t let it hurt you to be different because it’s less work and pays off in the future,

Be your individual,

-Antoinette Warren

(10/1/16)