Your stride is for a woman,
but your lies are for a girl
You’re a collection of others,
trying to make up a whole
The collage is so pretty,
but the glue won’t stick.

Daddy didn’t shout
But Mommy would silent scream
You never had a chance little girl,
to be anyone
So now you’re everyone
My little pretender

You survey your snake hips
but the number is too high,
Wrapping the tape
tighter and tighter
There’s a feast on your plate
and you cannot taste it

You feel but you do not believe,
grinning a bright smile
that has no heat.
You’re not deep enough for stabbing knives,
but maybe a razor
dragged across your template

You play the game so well
you’re never short of challengers
Burning through their light
with ivory paraffin
All that’s left is a frayed wick
wet between your fingers

You’re sitting in the boardroom chair,
but your feet don’t touch the floor
Always acting,
now the act is you
But you cannot be a mirror
when all you do is reflect

I wish you could’ve been real
How much I wanted that to be true
But you’ll always be a reflection,
a collage, a bright smile.
You’ll go far in this world,
my little pretender.