Wake Up

This is a land of blood

Blood of the innocent shed

Because this country is too weak to defend

Afraid to offend

Wanting to please everybody

But somebody

Not just one body

They pay with their lives

Stifling their cries

From strangers with fists and knives

Not just strangers

Our family, friends, and neighbors

Observing our appearance and behaviours

Feeling like we’re being graded

Even if they’ve also had their pride deflated

So they pass along the baton known as hatred

Being graded, like do I pass?

Is that a lad or lass?

Just what is that sitting in my class?

A what not a person

Not a living being nor human

Not a who, but a what!

It’s like a blast to the gut

So now I refuse to keep my mouth shut!

I just want to be

Like you are you, I want to be me

Happy and free

No more ridiculous lies

No regrets when I die

Not using my last breath to wonder why?

Why couldn’t I be me?

In the land of the free?

You say we teach sin and bring about damnation

But you forget your church is separate from this nation

You say it’s for the children

Do you know exactly what you’re doing?

Teaching all men are rapists

To blindly hate us

That their bodies should be hidden

And being an individual is forbidden

But who has wept because of who I am?

Who has died because of who I am?

Who do I hurt by just being seen?

My voice and body don’t match, oh how obscene!

You loathe a child asking questions,

But you always fail to mention

That while you feed them all these lies

You can never look them in the eyes

That their God wants them to die

For who they are

So you pack them in a car

And drive so very far

Away from this

Away from wondering and bliss

Away from a chance at sincere happiness

You demand all their attention

So they have no room to ask a question

Boy or girl?

There’s so much more to this world

We are not some danger

Look into the eyes of every stranger

Do the carpets match the drapes, it becomes an obsession

So here is my confession

That I am me

And I’ll agree

You’re God did nothing wrong

Because now I am strong

A different body with a different mind

Helps me better understand human-kind

Some call this a mess

But I say I am blessed

For this chance

In this dance

We are not some mistakes

So I’ll do whatever it takes

To be me

In the land of the free