“What do you know?”

They tell me to be silent

They tell me to be still

Their voices are loud

But not stronger than my will

They can bend me and break me

Force me to behave

I will still speak my mind

Even if my voice shakes

“Twenty-one years old”

“What do you know?”

Enough to understand why your heart grew cold

Why your dreams disappeared

Replaced with a career

Too fixated on money to face your fears

Too troubled by the world and everything in it

Too distracted by fame, fortune, and image

You fake a smile in hopes of impressing

A system built to keep you depressed

Saying you’ll grow, when you’re really regressing

Taking no claim when you’re having regrets

You don’t get respect

You don’t get the blessings

You don’t get a maid when things get messy

You don’t get a choice

You must use your voice

If you want to change whatever you’re getting

I ask you to fight, for your anger is strength

I ask you to take a chance at your fate

To lead with your fist

To live with the kiss

Of death at your doorstep

I promise it’s bliss

And with this I leave you the simple perspective

Of a girl who respects, but does not feel respected

She cannot be tamed, cannot be corrected

And still she fights despite imperfections

Vacant, jaded, sorrow in her soul

Still she will not let her heart grow cold

Still she will fight, but try as she might

“Twenty-one years old,” they say

“What do you know?”