Post by Valencia Donahue on Dec 9, 2007 23:58:21 GMT 1
[Note: As if people read these poems...]
I always seem to be the person on the outside looking in, wondering what’s going on.
I can’t help it if I don’t understand everything,
So I try to not take it too personally if I get strange looks.
After some time and plenty of observation, I begin to know how everything works.
These people act this way, these people act that way.
Those people are like that, those people aren’t always like this.
The folks over there don’t mind me too much,
The folks over here try to contain their derision.
Eventually, after enough immersion, I am part of the conglomerate.
Every once in a while, I shine brighter than anyone in my own way.
Other times, people just outshine me or clearly snuff me out.
On rarer occasions, people just steal my thunder, doing the same exact thing I do to get the desired effect.
It’s moments like those that remember how much I’d prefer to be the one and only individual, with all the one and only specialties…
Not a copy because people can’t tell the difference
Or mistaken for something else because they don’t compare at all
Then, I end up looking out from this side and I see all the other outsiders trying to get in
Most of their attempts don’t work and when they do,
They sometimes get too caught up in the success.
Everyone treats them virtually more or less the same way they treated me as an outsider.
Keep quiet, back off, and mind yourself, they say.
Meanwhile, I see all sorts of ways things could’ve been different.
I understand the worlds on each side of their barrier.
I know why the insiders and cliques act the way they are:
It’s how things are “supposed” to be, or how they’re used to it being.
They aren’t necessarily bad, since they too display camaraderie, but they’re likeminded enough to forget what it was like before.
Instead of waiting around, waiting for people to assign me somewhere,
I aim to do something about the tightly knit patterns that became gaudy.
I’ll become the frayed stitch or the loose thread that stands out.
Maybe people will get the message and join me and if they join too closely,
I’ll remind them of how they used to be, then become something else…
Just to keep people guessing.
Outsider
I always seem to be the person on the outside looking in, wondering what’s going on.
I can’t help it if I don’t understand everything,
So I try to not take it too personally if I get strange looks.
After some time and plenty of observation, I begin to know how everything works.
These people act this way, these people act that way.
Those people are like that, those people aren’t always like this.
The folks over there don’t mind me too much,
The folks over here try to contain their derision.
Eventually, after enough immersion, I am part of the conglomerate.
Every once in a while, I shine brighter than anyone in my own way.
Other times, people just outshine me or clearly snuff me out.
On rarer occasions, people just steal my thunder, doing the same exact thing I do to get the desired effect.
It’s moments like those that remember how much I’d prefer to be the one and only individual, with all the one and only specialties…
Not a copy because people can’t tell the difference
Or mistaken for something else because they don’t compare at all
Then, I end up looking out from this side and I see all the other outsiders trying to get in
Most of their attempts don’t work and when they do,
They sometimes get too caught up in the success.
Everyone treats them virtually more or less the same way they treated me as an outsider.
Keep quiet, back off, and mind yourself, they say.
Meanwhile, I see all sorts of ways things could’ve been different.
I understand the worlds on each side of their barrier.
I know why the insiders and cliques act the way they are:
It’s how things are “supposed” to be, or how they’re used to it being.
They aren’t necessarily bad, since they too display camaraderie, but they’re likeminded enough to forget what it was like before.
Instead of waiting around, waiting for people to assign me somewhere,
I aim to do something about the tightly knit patterns that became gaudy.
I’ll become the frayed stitch or the loose thread that stands out.
Maybe people will get the message and join me and if they join too closely,
I’ll remind them of how they used to be, then become something else…
Just to keep people guessing.