Thrifted Identies

*

familiar paths, all washed away

the sun has gone, the sky is gray

I'm not broken, just lost, today

I'll paint a new smile on my face

get myself up and take a breath

I'll dance this dance all by myself

another day as someone else

leaving my feelings on a shelf

remembering the good ol' days

when everything fell in its place

sometimes those memories erase

this strange new me that I’ve replaced

yet, here I sit, feeling lost-ish

thrifted identities seem foolish

guess I'm the one who's being fooled

the lessons learned, from being schooled

but I've been missing me lately

that girl I was, is haunting me

somehow makes me want to believe

that she's the one I'm meant to be

out to wander a short time ago

can I return, nobody knows

as long as I refuse to show

I can't be someone I don't know

another long look in the mirror

waiting for signs that she'll appear

a valued prize, on a thrift store shelf

never wanting to be someone else