The Gardener

imagine seeing the sunshine
for the first time
imagine how bright that'd feel
even with closed eyes
that's what it felt like to move out
leaving my childhood behind

i was waiting for the gardener
when my roots hit the bottom of a plant pot
i was waiting for the gardener
i was told they'd help me grow a lot

founding the soil with my roots
full of memories, stairs, and christmas mornings
that's what it felt like i was leaving
i was growing with everyone else
but somehow my roots weren't planted in the ground

i thought for a second i was different
but the soil had been poisoned
i thought it was protected
growing up i learned
the right and the wrong way
then i grew up and learned more ways

i was waiting for the gardener
my roots hit the bottom of a plant pot
what you don't plant in the ground
can't grow a lot

have you ever been lost?
i was lost, in a plant pot

i was laying there
years of growth
on a sidewalk, exposed
and i laid there
sun-up to sun-down
waiting for the gardener

they said she'd plant me
in the ground
when you learn people
don't plant flowers
don't pull more out
you need to learn how

i was growing with everyone else
but somehow my roots
weren't planted in the ground
and i thought for a second
i was just different
but the soil was poisoned,
i thought it was protected

i tried to pull them out
but needed to learn how
i wanted concrete, i wanted facts
i wanted to know
i'm not mindless now
all of those had lacked
i wanted to grow

my roots hit the bottom of a plant pot
what you don't plant in the ground,
can't grow a lot.