Dignity is delicate
You want to fit in that’s why you join things
like phony academies and sororities
to be part of what you never are
with your four eyes and your freckles
and funny way of not fitting in
from the start you stuck with the outcasts
though your calcified family warned you
you won’t get anywhere hanging out with them
we built forts against cruelty
we had camps in our imagination
where you didn’t have to be remotely resembling perfect
not everything was a competition
you were told once you were at the pinnacle
could decide did you want to keep going or
let go
you dropped from the monkey bars – free-falling
ran as fast as you could
because the taste of mainstream and shared potluck burned your tongue
you didn’t know then
you would be many other minorities
only your left-hand knew
You weren’t like the others
who had to be the best and
always had the most
one day many years later you said
You wish you’d been free like others were
it’s not easy being an outcast
not fitting in
but if you don’t seek acceptance and love
instead, wait for it to show up
when it does, it rarely leaves
that’s the folk tale anyway
you always had trouble believing
in God’s, in tales, in other’s
It wasn’t narcissism, just a challenge
to fit the mold
shapes can change
children grow
some become
unwieldy and unaccustomed
to the yearning of cities
humming in the night a chorus
channelling dragons
you stayed on your rooftop
you didn’t climb back
and dawn brought silence
as the rest of the world dreamt
you watched deer
crossing man-made roads
before the rush hour came
and mowed them down
That ending though! ❤
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Great title, too!
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