The Bear Turned Out to Be the Hero

Head underwater

I look for the sky

My lungs are on fire

I'm fighting the tide

I'm so afraid of the morning I don't wake up

But I'm more afraid of living forever.

I cut off all my hair

But forgot to untie the ribbon.

I mastered the shape you wanted to see

Come from my lips and teeth

I've spent so long pretending

To be as happy as you wanted me

Don't lie about the shame you feel when I say I'm not getting better

Because no matter how hard I work on myself, I'm always disappointed

Rather than smiling like the people with the straightest teeth

I've sought a self-portrait, how I think I should be

So no matter how wide, there's a gap in my smile

The ash in my bones will keep it clean

It's a life on repeat repeat repeat repeat

If our dreams are only cyclical then where is the progress?

Misconstrued my pyromania for selfishness

The heartless hang empty lockets from their necklaces

So we cried for our mothers

While our fathers fought our wars

We lined the pockets of our brothers

And called our sisters whores

And this is our condition

A chronic shame we bury deep

Make certain it feels ingrained

The guilt must come naturally

If we don't fear each other

And we don't hate ourselves

Then we may come together

And make something else

Don't lie about the shame you feel when I say I'm not getting better

Because no matter how hard I work on myself, I'm always disappointed

Rather than smiling like the people with the straightest teeth

I've sought a self-portrait, how I think I should be

So no matter how wide, there's a gap in my smile

The ash in my bones will keep it clean

It's a life on repeat repeat repeat repeat

If our dreams are only cyclical then where is the progress?

Misconstrued my pyromania for selfishness

The heartless hang empty lockets from their necklaces