When I was a little girl, I had little girl dreams.
“I’m going to be a princess.” “I want to be a ballerina.”
“I want to be on the big screen.”
But other kids are cruel and make fun of what makes you you
And I stuffed those dreams deep down inside, kept them safe from the world.
My mom loved me but she had her own shit to deal with.
She never really had a childhood herself.
And my dream wasn’t to follow in her footsteps:
Working two jobs, finding love when I could, struggling to pay the man.
Didn’t help that my dad wasn’t around.
All I knew was he was six feet underground,
And I was usually alone, by myself.
Few friends, one or two teachers who gave a shit
But I had to grow up fast.
* * *
I didn’t grow up fast enough, though,
Because when I started putting pen to paper and
Singing my songs and playing my music
And putting it online to share with the world,
The world came at me hard.
I hadn’t known what to expect, hadn’t known that so many people
Would want a piece of me.
When they figured out my words could be flipped into cash,
Along came a wolf disguised as a guide dog.
“I can make her famous, make her rich beyond her wildest dreams.”
And when he said, “Just sign here,” she did
Because then she could go on with her life
While believing I had my own.
* * *
But I was new to that world. Contracts were written in Greek,
