For You, For Me

Some people like to ask -
"Why is it you write?"
And for a moment when they do
I think of taking flight
For how am I to answer?
How do I explain?
Why it is I choose
To show all the world my pain?
Why I lay bare my soul
For everyone to see
Why I do this for them
And, even more so, for me

But then they ask again -
"Why is it you write?"
So I pause to think and say -
"It is the only way I know how to fight
It is my only defense
Against a darkness called Me
It is the only way
I know how to be free
It is my escape
And it is my cage
It is my happiness
And it is my rage."

"We don't understand," they say -
"Tell us truly why you write."
And I tell them -
"So I can shine a light
I tell you all of strength
So I can inspire
I show you people's worth
So I might get what I desire
I desire knowledge
To know the world is moral, kind, and true
And in order to convince myself of it
I must first convince you.

I write to find the truth
And always discover more than one
I write to experience magic
And to prove that there is none
I am my own contradiction
I am both the protagonist and antagonist who writes
I write to prove there can be happily ever after's
And that there's no such thing, nor fairies or knights
I write to show that the world is beautiful
But also that it's grotesque
Some people shout their opinions from the rooftops
But I prefer to sit quietly at my writing desk

I sit, find what I think, contradict myself
And somehow prove to the world I'm right
I try to inspire everyone, myself included, to think
And that is why I write."