Do not paint your face with borrowed hues,
Or walk in shoes that are not your own,
The world may whisper who to be,
But you are more than flesh and bone!

You do not need masks to fit the mould,
Nor shrink to match another’s frame,
Your truth is not too loud or strange,
Your soul was never meant for shame!

Let others chase their mirrored halls,
Reflecting what they think is right,
But you are made of deeper stuff,
Of shadowed dreams and starlit light!

Be the storm or be the still,
Be the silence or be the song,
There is beauty in a voice that shakes,
But dares to speak where it belongs!

Peel off the layers built by fear,
Let scars and stories rise and swell,
You will find the world is brighter when,
You show the self you know so well!

So, stand unguarded, soft and strong,
No need to play somebody new,
For all the power you could seek,
Already lives inside of you!