Lyrks
Lyrks
Lyrks
Cover Art

A Letter to the Playground Bully from Andrea Age 8 1/2 Lyrics by Andrea Gibson

Flower Boy

2010

Maybe there are cartwheels in your mouth,
Maybe your words will grow up to be a gymnasts,
Maybe you have been kicking people with them by accident.
I know some people get a whole lot of rocking in the rocking chair
and the ones who don’t sometimes get rocks in their voice boxes,
and their voice boxes become slingshots.
Maybe you think my heart looks like a baby squirrel.
But you absolutely missed when you told the class I have head lice
‘cause I one hundred percent absolutely do not have head lice,
and even if I do
it is a fact that head lice prefer clean heads over dirty ones.
So I am clean as a whistle on a tea pot.
My mother says it is totally fine if I blow off steam
as long as i speak in an octave my kindness can still reach.
My kindness knows mermaids never ever miss their legs in the water
‘cause there are better ways to move through the ocean than kicking.
So guess what,
if I ever have my own team
I am picking everyone first.
Even the worst kid
and the kid with the stutter like a skipping record
‘cause I know all of us are scratched,
even if you can’t hear it when we speak.
My mother says most people have heartbeats
that are knocking on doors that will never open,
and I know my heart is a broken freezer chest
‘cause I can never keep anything frozen.
So no, I am not “always crying.”
I am just thawing outside of the lines.
And even if I am “always crying”
it is a fact
that salt is the only reason
everything floats so good in the dead sea.
And just ‘cause no one ever passes notes to me
doesn’t mean I am not super duper.
In fact, my super duper might be a buoy or a paper boat
the next time your nose gets stuck up the river
‘cause it is a fact
that our hearts stop every for a milli-second every time we sneeze,
and some people’s houses have too much dust.
Some people’s fathers are like attics.
I’ve heard attics have monsters in their walls and shaky stares.
I think if I lived in a house with attic
I’d nightmare a burglar in my safety chest.
And maybe I’d look for rest in the sticks and stones
‘cause my mother says a person can only swallow so much punch
before he’s drunk on his own fist.
But the only drunk I ever knew
was sleeping in the alley behind our church.
And Jesus turned water into his wine
so even god has his bad days.
But on your bad days couldn’t you just say
“hey I’m having a bad day,”
instead of telling me I’m stupid or poor,
or telling me I dress like a boy.
‘Cause maybe I am a boy AND a girl;
maybe my name is Andrea Andrew.
So what.
It is a fact that bumblebees have hair on their eyes.
And humans, also, should comb though everything they see.
Like
an anchorman is not a sailor.
Like the clouds might be a pillow fight.
Like my mother says,
“Every bird perched on a telephone wire
will listen to the conversations running through its feet
to decide the direction of its flight.”
So I know every word we speak
can make hurricanes in people’s weather veins,
or shine their shiny shine.
So maybe sometime you could sit beside me on the bus
and I could say,
“Guess what, it is a fact that manatees have vocal chords
but do not have ears.
And Beethoven made music
even when he could no longer hear."
And I know every belt that has hit someone’s back
is still a belt that was built to hold something up.
And it is fact that Egyptians slept on pillows made of stone,
but it’s not hard for me to dream
that maybe one day you’ll write me back,
like the day I wrote the lightening bug to say,
"I smashed my mason jar and I threw away the lid."
I didn’t want to take a chance that I’d grow up to be a war.
I want to be a belly dance or an accordion or a pogo stick
or the fingerprints the mason left
in the mortar between the bricks
to prove that he was here,
that he built a roof over someone’s head
to keep the storm from their faith.
My mother says that’s why we all were born.
And I think she’s right.
So write back soon.
Sincerely Yours.
Credits
Andrea Gibson

Andrea Gibson

About “A Letter to the Playground Bully from Andrea Age 8 1/2” by Andrea Gibson

Read the complete lyrics to "A Letter to the Playground Bully from Andrea Age 8 1/2" by Andrea Gibson from the album "Flower Boy" in 2010. On Lyrks you can follow along with the full text, explore the artist's discography, and discover related songs. The track is often categorized under Non-Music, Literature.

"A Letter to the Playground Bully from Andrea Age 8 1/2" is performed by Andrea Gibson. from the album "Flower Boy" in 2010 This page provides the full lyric text for fans who want to sing along, study the songwriting, or compare versions across releases. Lyrks organizes lyrics by artist and song slug so you can bookmark and share a stable URL. Music lyrics help listeners connect with emotion, narrative, and rhythm in a track. Whether you are learning English, researching a favorite chorus, or preparing for karaoke, having accurate line breaks and section labels (verse, chorus, bridge) makes the experience easier. We link to the official artist profile on Lyrks where available, including biography snippets, top songs, and chart placements when we have that data. If you enjoy "A Letter to the Playground Bully from Andrea Age 8 1/2", explore more songs by Andrea Gibson using the links below. Chart and trending pages on Lyrks highlight what listeners are searching for this week. For copyright or correction requests, see our DMCA and contact pages.

View all songs and biography for Andrea Gibson · Trending lyrics · Billboard Hot 100

Frequently asked questions

"A Letter to the Playground Bully from Andrea Age 8 1/2" is credited to Andrea Gibson. Songwriting credits may include additional writers listed on the release; check the credits section on this page for linked collaborators.

"A Letter to the Playground Bully from Andrea Age 8 1/2" appears on "Flower Boy" in 2010.

Visit the Andrea Gibson artist page at /artist/andrea-gibson for biography, popular tracks, and links to more lyric pages.