American Kids

I know her eyes are brown

But they looked so lava red

When she would glance over at me

It would turn my heart to lead

But now when I catch her gaze

Her eyes are empty almond shells

And though they whistle softly in the wind

It’s her broken smile that tells

That she has never loved another

Because she has always been loved

She told me she cut herself for attention

Just to see if someone cared enough

To tell her not to do it

To tell her she was worth much more

That’s why she would go silent

When we asked what it was for

In the gentle light of her bedroom

She searched my face for sympathy

And I saw her for the first time,

Not as she would appear to be,

But as she really is

A lost child of this age

Empty and blank and dull
Feeling neither joy nor rage

Seeking validation
For the ghost she had become

Desperately searching for pain

When she became so numb

She wanted to be a singer

But that dream fell hard and fast

She never was known for her ability

To make her ambitions last

Every day she gets worse

She doesn’t know who she is,

A common theme among us all,

The true American Kids

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