I Thought I Knew

I thought I knew the question

I thought I knew the fight

I knew the doors that wouldn’t open

I knew what wasn’t right

I thought if I could ask them

They’d tell me what I knew

That everybody wanted

The things that I wanted too

But one said, “I just want a choice”

One said, “I like my life”

One had never wondered

If anything was wrong or right

I thought I knew

I thought I knew

What freedom had to look like

What we were going through

But every door I opened

Showed me another view

I thought I knew us

I only knew me

I thought I knew

One wanted independence

A name that was their own

One didn’t want a revolution

Just somewhere safe to call home

One laughed when I asked the question

Like I’d made it all too deep

One said, “Things could be much better”

Then shrugged and went back to their week

Some were angry, some were hopeful

Some had other things to do

And none of them were waiting

To become somebody like me too

I thought I knew

I thought I knew

What freedom had to look like

What we were going through

But every voice was different

And every answer true

I thought I knew us

I only knew me

I thought I knew

Maybe freedom isn’t one road

Maybe no one gets to choose

What another person should want

Or what they ought to refuse

Maybe asking is more honest

Than arriving with the truth

Maybe speaking for a thousand

Starts by listening to a few

I thought I knew

I thought I knew

What freedom had to look like

What we were supposed to do

Now I know a single answer

Could never carry all of you

I thought I knew us

I only knew me

Now I want to know you

So tell me what you hope for

Tell me what you’d leave the same

I won’t turn you into my story

Just because we share a name

I thought I knew

I thought I knew

Now I know

I have more to learn