PSA for Child Prodigies

PSA for Child Prodigies

You were born into formalities

You were raised under the spotlight

Under your parent's pretense of a child prodigy

Cast under a spell of artistic and academic extremity

All you ever seem to be is under

You perform the piano with unprecedented passion, they tell

Finger strokes of something greater

Melodies are what make you

As if your life was a symphony

During the day you have to play the high notes with pride,

why hide the niceties?

But at night, you strung the somber sounds of the low tide

Tuck away the thoughts of anything less than perfect

You try to hide the hopelessness with your blanket

Because beneath the Cordillera of sheets you can be you

Under the mountain of this night, you are allowed to break

But when it’s time to rise

You have to fight the snow that's holding you back

Only, this mountain is just the beginning

You try to reach for the sky but the snow is suffocating

The things deemed of little talent are what keep you breathing

Your art is your air

friends are lungs

There's so much that drives you

But your parents

They are the cigarette that they tell you not to smoke as they blow out their car window

Your parents cause that cough of lacking confidence

Because if you can’t be yourself how can you believe in your abilities?

There are so many kids growing up this way

With their parents pressuring them

As if potential prioritizes over person

I promise it doesn’t

Your dreams and purposes are all valid

Yes, you have faults but who doesn’t?

You don't have to be perfect

You don't have to be a prodigy

You can take that mountain on one step at a time

Your so feared failures are a part of the process to success

And yes,

the snow is suffocating, I know

But your passions will supply you air

Your friends will help keep you breathing

It’s so easy to succumb to the tides,

To let the snow block you in

You can sink yourself down in the melodies of sorrow

Or,  you can fight it

Your future doesn’t have to be fantasy

You can fight the tide with your friends at your side until you make it back to land

You can stand up to the tides and force away the snow

One step after another

You can climb that mountain

And yes,

It’s going to be hard

But you can do it

because you are a prodigy of your own league