I got here before the warning bell. Before the halls could start. Before the noise could cover up, the questions in my heart. I’ve laughed my way through trouble. I’ve smiled my way through shame. But lately when they laugh with me, it doesn’t feel the same. I like the way a story grows. I like the things I learn. I like the spark of finding out, what waits around the turn. But somewhere in the punchlines. Somewhere in the smoke. I started getting scared, that I was only seen as the joke. I’m more than a joke. More than a laugh in the room. More than a comeback, fading out too soon. I can still be the one, who makes the hard days lighter. But I can be a dreamer, and a thinker, and a writer. I’m more than a joke. More than a joke. They say they like me as I am. And maybe that is true. But I know there are better things, I’ve been afraid to do. I don’t have to lose the laughter. I don’t have to change my name. But if I never reach for more, then I only stay the same. Maybe I’ve made promises, that barely saw the sun. Maybe I’ve had big ideas, then watched them come undone. But something in this morning, feels different when I breathe. Like the person I keep hiding, Is the one I need to be. I’m more than a joke. More than a laugh in the room. More than a comeback, fading out too soon. I can still be the one, who makes the hard days lighter. But I can be a dreamer, and a thinker, and a writer. I’m more than a joke. More than a joke. I don’t want to disappear, behind another grin. I don’t want to lose myself, before I can begin. There’s a page I haven’t written. There’s a road I haven’t tried. There’s a voice beneath the laughter, that I don’t want to hide. I’m more than a joke. More than a laugh in the room. More than a promise, that disappears by noon. I can still be the one, who makes the hard days lighter. But I can be a dreamer, and a thinker, and a writer. I’m more than a joke. I’m more than the easy answer. More than the part I play. More than the kid who says tomorrow, then forgets it all by day. I can keep the light inside me, still let something deeper show. I’m more than a joke. And I think it’s time I know. I’m more than a joke. More than they see. More than I’ve shown. More than I thought I could be.
