I used to dress my dreams in gray Kept my colors in a drawer Pulled my sleeves down past my hands Never asked for any more I learned to walk like someone else Lowered my voice Erased my name But every mirror Every year I could feel her tug the frame Now I’m standing in the sun Skin that finally feels like mine But I grieve the girl I left inside She never got to paint her eyes Never took her teenage heart To a sleepover or schoolyard fight I’m living as the woman I am But I miss the girl who lost her time I buy the lipstick she’d have loved Leave glitter on my kitchen floor Try on dresses in the light She was hiding from before I talk to her in quiet rooms Say “You can come out It’s all right” She answers me in little waves Of laughter that I never had at nine Now I’m standing in the sun Skin that finally feels like mine But I grieve the girl I left inside She never learned to dance in line Never passed those folded notes In a classroom with her own first name I’m living as the woman I am But I ache for every stolen day Come sit with me In every year we missed We’ll borrow time From every tender kiss I’ll braid your hair With every strand I’ve grown You were a secret Now you’re coming home (yeah) Now we’re standing in the sun Every color on our side I hold the girl I kept inside Tell her she can take her time We’ll learn the steps we never learned Spin in dresses in the kitchen light I’m living as the woman I am And I’m loving the girl That survived the night
