Ko-ko-mi
Before my mother called my name
Before the world could measure my face
I was there
And I said:
This life
These eyes
This skin
This road
Yeh—
I chose the hands that raised me up
The house with cracks beneath the door
I chose the mouth that spoke my name
And every hunger I came for
I chose this color, rich as earth
This crooked smile, this mother's tongue
But they taught my mirror how to doubt
Till I forgot the song I'd sung
They said—
Soften your tongue, hide your flame
Wear their silence, forget your name
But no two stars are born the same
No river begs to be the rain
What heaven writes, no fear can shame
My path is mine—
My name is flame!
No mistake! (Oya-eh!)
No mistake in me!
Heaven made no copy!
I am what I came to be!
No mistake! (Ko-ko-mi!)
No mistake in me!
Why compare the ocean to the rain
When both were sent to fill the sea?
No— mistake— (No mistake!)
No— mistake— (No mistake!)
In— me!
No— mistake—
Yeh! Wo!
No— mistake—
I swallowed my mother's tongue at the gate
Laughed when they twisted my name on their lips
Smiled through rooms that praised my mask
And called that fitting in
They taught us sameness like a law
As if one face could hold all light
But your wound sings notes that mine cannot—
Different stars, one sky, one night
No mountain kneels for being tall
No seed apologizes at all
What heaven planted will not crawl
I break the lie—
I stand in full!
Wo! Wo! Wo! Wo!
Wo! Wo! Wo! Wo!
Wo! Wo! Wo! Wo!
Look—
No wave repeats itself
Look—
Even twins do not dream the same
Look—
Even my scars do not match yours
So why did we iron our souls flat
And call that fitting in?
Why did we punish holy difference
And call it order?
Ko-ko-mi
Do not erase what heaven wrote
Do not erase what heaven wrote
Do not erase what heaven wrote
No mistake! (Oya-eh!)
No mistake in me!
Heaven made no copy!
I am what I came to be!
No mistake! (Ko-ko-mi!)
No mistake in me!
Same sun, same blood, same sky—
Yet each soul blooms differently!
Every scar I carry has a mouth
Every tear became a key
What I begged the world to free me from
Was the very door that chose me!
No— mistake— (No mistake!)
No— mistake— (No mistake!)
In— me!
No— mistake—
No— mistake—
Ko-ko-mi! Ase!
Before they taught us mirrors
We were whole
Ko-ko-mi
The face I feared
Was the map I chose
Ase
Ase
