Mirrorless Cadence

Lyrics

I awoke in a form the influencers praise,
Impeccably cast, a crowd-stopping blaze.
Shirts fit like they’d been waiting for me,
Every mirror whispered, You look so pretty!

“Mr. Perfectly Toned,” they crowned me that fast,
A myth in the making, something built to outlast.
They loved the façade, but not a word in my head,
Just a filtered story they’d already read.

I tailored every party & sculpted this body,
But I could never be their Adonis carbon copy.
Appalled rushed in & I was disenchanted;
They chased my safety, but fled the romantic.

So the novelty of me faded, just as expected,
They evaded true feelings, acting unaffected.
Cued next party on deck, a curated smokescreen,
While I drown in the shallow River of Neh-mow-zeen.

I felt like a once-coveted toy soldier,
Just fighting for a love to last ‘til I’m older.
But this life is built like a Cassandran tragedy...
Gifted with sight, but who’d ever believe me?

I dialed the old crew, craving a familiar spark,
But our laughs misfired, the timing went dark.
Their memories lived in a world I’d betrayed,
A timeline erased by the bargain I’d made.

Guilt hit me like a winter-hard subway gust,
All for a torso they envy, a body for lust.
The price of perfection was friends out of reach,
A truth a million likes could never teach.

So the novelty of YOU faded, just as expected,
I got over my feelings, now you can feel rejected.
Your next party on deck lost its deceptive sheen,
I’m still drowning in the shallow River of Neh-mow-zeen.

I thought sculpted illusions made futures that last,
But this celestial body just eclipsed the past.
Beauty’s a currency that’s easy to spend;
It bought me a crowd, but not a single real friend.

So I’m trading in this life of a platinum face card,
Because vanity miles won’t take the heart far.
I slip from the mirror, the shimmer, the show,
To the unfiltered life where the real things grow.

I took a sip from the River of LEE-thee,
Because I refuse to let you get the best of me.
The water may have cleared all my thoughts,
But my heart held a space for what was lost.

For what I lost.

For what you lost.

For what we lost.

We all lost.