untitled document

untitled document 
that's what it says when you start a new google doc. 
a blank empty screen of white stares back at you; 
it's a blank slate for you to fill in, 
a life freshly created. 
you make your own choices for yourself, 
but what do you do when your life has already been decided? 
from birth, the pages of your life have been typed in with how you should live and what you have to do to achieve success. 
even the definition of success is determined for you 
 
in life you're just a figurine, 
a white pawn for chess, 
a doll for someone to play with. 
all you have to do is follow that path that has already been scripted out for you... 
but what if you don't want to do that? 
what if you just want to live your life the way you want to- 
then they all tell you, 
"at least for the sake of your immigrant parents who sacrificed so much for you, 
don't let them down now." 
 
what if all you want is to be an untitled document, 
so you can color the pages with whatever crayon you like 
and maybe even scribble outside the lines occasionally. 
once you free yourself from all these outside voices, 
you can be an untitled document too. 
in your head, you replay the scene where you tell that nosy auntie that you don't need her opinion 
and that you're going to write out the play of your life the way you want to. 
you break forth from the template determined for you 
and emerge from your cocoon 
as a fragile, shaking 
yet determined and sparkling butterfly.