Never want to look out my window again So I'll look for work as a projectionist For room and board I'll go analog for a meager wage Live at some dying cinema until my final days Maybe I should have become a colorist Picking the hues to make brown skin perfectly lit Making pretty pictures pop out of the page Spending all day sparking life into the heroes of the silver age Or maybe a flower shop, how could I even resist? Create my own microcosm after hours in the garden I wanna work with my hands, so maybe I'll learn a trade Nothing flashy Just something to make sure all the bills are paid Because America is a nation of middlemen So I'll do whatever it takes to not be one of them Until some old white men decide my fate They'll sign the dotted lines While black bodies fill in the blanks This land was never meant for me They told me racism ended back in the seventies But the good old boys still have senate seats And the ones not cut for politics became police And I think about converting a school bus constantly Just me and my tiny home exploring The worlds topography Only want for gas money No more convenience fees No living just to work and getting burnt out by thirty Americana stole my soul before it had me But if I was born anywhere else would I still be me? I don't know what it is about this duplicitous country I swear I hate it here but for some odd reason I just can't seem to leave If there's anything this year has taught me My life is worth less than a haircut and a coffee Only protest if you're white and miss conveniency But don't you dare sit this out or take a knee Makes me want to just cut and run My parents wonder why I won't have children But every so often I get pulled back in Back in Back in Because there's so much I still love And cherish so tenderly My time in Alaska, South Carolina And even Mississippi I didn't even know that Texas could be so pretty A glittery daydream So vibrant Expansive and serene So many pockets of beauty Surrounded by pure ugly I know it's like that everywhere but please just let me dream A utopia that I know I won't live to see I just wanted to feel some sort of pride So badly