This Girl

There’s this girl I saw this morning
And she looked so deep in thought
Wondering who she really was
And learning who she was not
Following words that ruled her life
Like “accepted, perfect, ‘the look’”
Had transformed her into a copy-cat story
Instead of writing her own book
Are these clothes in?
Is this person out?
A bunch of rules
To worry about
Wearing designer this
And brand-name that
She strayed from herself
For fear of social combat
To walk out the door happy
Was no longer real
Life was a dictation
With no chance for appeal
To feel like herself,
She’d give up being cool
Have to wear things she liked
And be called a fool
So who was this girl?
She looked kind of like me
And she was lost in thoughts
That no one could see
So did she surrender
To a dictation so cruel?
She wore an “un-cool” shirt
And headed out towards the school