Look in the mirror and find the same old thing
A discouraging pep talk, the same song to sing:

“Why can’t you be better, Self?
And where can you get some help?
You have not been and cannot be good enough
It will always be this way, things won’t look up
The boys pass you by without a second glance,
The girls mock your clean face and bellbottom pants
When will you stop fighting?
It will never stop hurting
You, Self, are stuck as you
When there’s no way to change, what can you do?
Crying is useless and you are as well
You had might as well rot in your cell
Nobody cares, Self, and they never will
Nobody will care, no, not until
You change and become someone who you are not
Then the you who is not you will get the attention you sought.”

Look in the mirror and find something new
I whisper, “Self, never stop being you.”