I know I’m your puppet
Because you didn’t do great things.
You want me to do everything you didn’t-
But it’s making me miserable.
Do I really have to love math and science
Or am I just so brainwashed I have
No other choice than to embrace numbers
And formulas?

What about books? Are they not meaningful
Enough? Are they not good enough for you?
I like books, but no, you only see
My math grades. I got a 100 on an essay-
“I figured you would.” Does this not
Merit enough attention? 100 is a number.
Is that not mathematical enough?

I love books and reading. Sure, I can embrace
Numbers, but I can’t escape into their world.
I’ll never be able to fight dragons with an eight
Or time travel with a twelve. All of these notations
Trap me in and lock me up. Books are my escape-
My freedom. Can’t you see?

I am not the perfect multimillionaire child.
I used to want to be, but you have gone too far.
You dictate my life, my SAT scores, my
Future. Because, oh wait, I forgot. It’s your
Future- the measure of how successful you
Were as parents.

But let’s see. Am I looking forward to my
Future? Not really, because it’s not mine,
It’s yours. So were you really successful?