A Story Like Mine

It's 2009 and I'm 14 and I'm crying
Not really sure where I am but I'm holding
The hand of my best friend Sam
In the waiting room of a Planned Parenthood
The air is sterile and clean, and
The walls are that not grey, but green
And the lights are so bright they could burn
A whole through the seam of my jeans
And my phone is buzzing in the pocket
My mom is asking me if
I remembered my keys 'cause
She's closing the door and she
Needs to lock it
But I can't tell my mom where I've gone
I can't tell anyone at all you see
My best friend Sam was raped by a man that
We knew 'cause he worked
In the after-school program
And he held her down with
Her textbooks beside her
And he covered her mouth and
He came inside her so now I'm with Sam, at
The place with a plan
Waiting for the results of a medical exam
And she's praying she doesn't
Need an abortion, she couldn't afford it
And her parents would, like, totally kill her
It's 2002 and my family just
Moved and the only
People I know are my mom's friend, Sue
And her son he's got a case of Matchbox cars
And he says that he'll
Teach me to play the guitar
If I just keep quiet
And the stairwell beside Apartment 1245
Will haunt me in
My sleep for as long as I am alive
And I'm too young to know why it aches
In my thighs, but I must lie, i must lie

It's 2012 and I'm dating a guy and I sleep in
His bed and I just learned how to drive
And he's older than me and he drinks
Whiskey neat and he's paying for everything
This adult thing is not cheap
We've been fighting a lot
Almost 10 times a week
And he wants to have sex
And I just want to sleep
But he says I can't say no to him
This much I owe to him
He buys my dinner, so I have to blow him
He's taken to forcing me down on my knees
And I'm confused 'cause he's hurting
Me while he says please and he's only a man
And these things he just needs
He's my boyfriend
So why am I filled with unease?

It's 2017 and I live like a queen
And I've followed damn near every
One of my dreams
I'm invincible and I'm so fucking naive
I believe I'm protected 'cause I
Live on a screen
Nobody would dare act that way around me
I've earned my protection, eternally clean
Until a man that I trust gets
His hands in my pants
But I don't want none of that
I just wanted to dance
And I wake up the next morning like
I'm in a trance and there's blood
Is that my blood? H-hold on a minute
You see I've worked every day since I was 18
I've toured everywhere from
Japan to Mar-a-Lago
I even went on stage that night in
Chicago when I was having a miscarriage
I mean, I pied the piper, I put on a diaper
And sang out my spleen to
A room full of teens
What do you mean this happened to me?
You can't put your hands on me
You don't know what my body has been through
I'm supposed to be safe now i earned it

It's 2018 and I've realized nobody is
Safe long as she is alive
And every friend that I know
Has a story like mine
And the world tells me we should
Take it as a compliment
But then heroes like Ashley and Simone
And Gabby, McKayla and Gaga, Rosario, aly
Remind me this is the beginning
It is not the finale
And that's why we're here
And that's why we rally
It's Olympians and a medical resident
And not one fucking word from
The man who is President
It's about closed doors and secrets
And legs and stilettos
From the Hollywood Hills to
The projects in ghettos
When babies are ripped from the
Arms of teen mothers
And child brides cry globally
Under the covers
Who don't have a voice on the magazine covers
They tell us, "Take cover"
But we are not free until all of us are free
So love your neighbor
Please treat her kindly
Ask her her story and then shut up and listen
Black, Asian, poor, wealthy
Trans, cis, Muslim, Christian
Listen, listen and then yell at
The top of your lungs
Be a voice for all those
Who have prisoner tongues
For the people who had to
Grow up way too young
There is work to be done
There are songs to be sung
Lord knows there's a war to be won