We are creatures of circumstance

We are creatures of circumstance
Not the product of fixed features

Our skin is the color of destiny
Or defiance
Our voice is the decibel of defeat
Or mutiny

P’arriba o p’abacho
We take the floor
Snap the pop elastic

To arabesque and then plié
Explode at drops
Exhale at melodies
Dile que sí, claro que si

Though our eyes have never met the sun
And our hands have never touched fire
Give us a hammer
And we will forge a rocketship
Set the ceiling
And we will unshackle the moon

We are beasts who starve for choice
And thirst for participation
Fatten us with faith
Gorge us with liberty
And prepare us for the feast

Though our tongues have only tasted dirt
And our feet have only walked on earth
Give us an oar
And we will sail every meridian
Map the road
And we will break the compass

Prop or principal
We hold the stage
Expel expectation

In monologue and in chorus
Stun with isolations
Stride into formation
Generation upon generation

Our blood is the temperature of rage
Or resistance
Our bones are a collapsing scaffold
Or our only cage

We are a spectrum made of spectrums
An infinite set of infinite sets
A problem that calls upon itself
To solve itself
Escaping definition, disrupting recursion
Compiling our batch and release

Change jingles in every gene
A permutation for every scene
An auto-refreshing feed
A strategy that cannot repeat

We are creatures of circumstance
The creators of history