Only Following Orders

When I was a kid
I did what my my dad told me
and took the job of a man,
and stayed within the confines
of the enslaved damned.
But where did it go wrong?
I was only following orders,
Why do I still feel lacking as a man?

When I was a wife
I did what my mother told me
I let my husband treat me
the way a woman should be treated.
But I'm bruised and black and struck.
Where did it go wrong?
I was only following orders
Is this just my unfortunate luck?
When I was a young soldier
my country sent me to the killing fields
where I was wounded and maimed,
and I came home without arms and legs
and a heart and a mind.
Where did it go wrong?
I was only following orders
Why is the world so unkind?

When I was a girl coming of age
everything tells me I should look pretty,
otherwise no one will like me.
I avoided looking plain and dull
trying to outdo the others with my style.
Where did it go wrong?
I was only following orders
Why am I still lonely all this while?
When I was a spiritual guru
ascending beyond the material and immaterial
I saw the light God shone
I was blessed with the hope of love
and given answers for I believed.
Where did it go wrong?
I was only following orders
Why do I feel like I've not lived?

When I finally woke up
from the dream and nightmare
of who I wasn't,
I began to understand
it was all unrhymed nonsense.
Now it's no more wrong
because I didn't follow any orders
and the most beautiful thing is my own presence.[image error]