DISCOURAGE ME

Break me into a m.i.l.l.i.o.n. pieces
Tell me again
How w o r t h l e s s you think I am. . .
Challenge my thoughts
Rip them apart and explain every r e a s o n
Why you think they should have never been there in the first place
M u r d e r my hopes and my dreams
B u r y them a.l.i.v.e. so that
They will haunt me forever.
When you’re done,
Explain to me the pleasure you had.
The joy that filled your heart.
The smile that came across your face
As you saw the f r o w n develop on mine.
As you saw the a n g e r engulf my eyes.
As you saw the t e a r s that I cried.
And then tell me why you l.a.u.g.h.e.d.
And then tell me again
Why you laughed…
Because if I could understand
How good it could make someone else feel
To dehumanize another person
Make them feel so w o r t h l e s s, then
I could laugh with you too.
We could be on the same level
Telling jokes back and forth
About how silly their m i n d s could be
You see?
I.
I want to be like you.
I want to a p p e a r to the world
As if I am i.n.v.i.n.c.i.b.l.e.
As if I am so i.m.p.o.r.t.a.n.t.
The world would have to stop for me
And applaud on my greatness.
I want to know what it’s like to think like you
To walk in your s.h.o.e.s.
To understand the reasons why it’s okay for you to do the things that you do
Can you t e a c h me?
So that I can b r e a k people down?
So that I can walk all over them
As their l i f e l e s s bodies become
c a s u a l t I e s in this personal war?
Just so that I can laugh with you…
I’ve always wanted to know what it was like to be at the top
To look down on everyone else around me because
I have been looking up at the
S o l e s of corporate AmeriKKK’s b o o t s and
I have felt what it’s like to be beaten down with w o r d s,
With violence and water pressure used a g a i n s t  m e so that
Noone could hear me
To break me down so small that the
Most powerful microscope would never be able to  s e e  m e.
I have laid my life out for your taking, but
I am taking it back.
You can’t have it.
God gave me this life to make a difference and
I refuse to let someone else take it from me.
I refuse to let you question my greatness.
To bottle up my t h o u g h t s and launch them so far out of this world,
You see?
I am doing this for me. but
Not just for me…
For the children to come,
For their dreams to be seen and heard.
For their lives to be worth something m.o.r.e. than
The lives that were already t.a.k.e.n. from us.
So please, discourage me
Please try to break me into a m.i.l.l.i.o.n. pieces,
And tell me again,
How worthless you t h i n k I am?
I want you to c h a l l e n g e my thoughts
Rip them apart and explain every reason why
You think they should have never been there in the first place
Attempt to m.u.r.d.e.r. my hopes and my dreams
Try and bury them alive so that
They will haunt YOU forever.
And when you’re done,
I will explain the pleasure that I have,
The j o y that will fill my heart,
The smile that will come across my face…
Because you feel that I am
Such a t.h.r.e.a.t. to your greatness.
Maybe then we can finally sit down and laugh.
You can tell me how it feels
To be on my level, and
I’ll tell you how it feels to look at you and see
i.n.s.p.i.r.a.t.i.o.n.