We are all children,
Turned into propers,
Forced to be grown ups,
Told to be adults,
Treated like toddlers,
Punched into manners,
Kicked into jobs,
Said to be faulty,
Expected to be perfect,
We are all children.

We are all just children,
Pushed into masks,
Pulled into costumes,
Captured by responsibilities,
Then stripped of our costumes,
Facing the world without our masks,
We are all just children.

We need to be children,
Made by rules,
“Freed” from choice,
Decided fates,
By another party,
Broken dreams,
Fractured hopes,
Wrinkled hearts,
Lead by children,
Turned into propers,
Forced to be grown-ups,
Same as us,
Generation after generation,
Of lifeless faces with blank expressions,
Robots with no road to follow,
But what their coding tells them to do,
Graceless,
Emotionless,
Dreamless,
Hopeless,
Heartless,
Brainless,
Children.
We need to be children.

No,
We were all children,
Now we’re propers,
Grown-ups,
Adults,
Toddlers,
Mannered,
Jobbed,
Faulty,
Perfect,
Masked,
Costumed,
Responsible,
Ruled,
Choice less,
Damaged,
Fractured,
Wrinkled,
Lead.
We were all children.

We are all but children,
Broken toys left behind,
When our owners,
Grew up.
We are faulty,
Yet perfect,
Damaged,
Yet in working order.
We are all but children.

But maybe we’re aren’t,
Maybe we are playing our roles,
And when the curtains go down,
When the play ends,
We will find what we are,
Just what we are,
What we need to be,
What we were,
And yet,
What we are all but.
We will find that,
We are all children.