When they demand a pattern of life and individual taste differs
When the collective exists as a mosaic patchwork of norms and the one is isolated
Many hearts break and men suffer in silence.
The sobs of the heart heave in privacy and the closet, my palace and my fortress
Down the avenues of convention, the deviant will not venture and in the realms of normalcy, the odd is often found wanting
There is courage in the company of friends and safety abounds amongst birds of the same plumage
But, he that is born different, who shall console?
When your tastes and choices conflict with the established parameters and your joy is only in the quaint
When life, with its definitions, leaves you adrift and your desires and warmth lie in the forbidden
When your secrets are buried in your head and you crave an outlet for lack of trust
When your life hides in frozen shadows and mostly spent in stolen moments and self-denial
You stand afraid to be you because none will understand. You quake at the approaching shadows and none will embrace
When your rights to be you are sacrificed on the altar of normality and convention, your life threatened by exposure, your joys denied and your self-worth injured
When your love and your life are intertwined and only the one can assuage you,
They become strangers who, though close and dear, but with ill-informed judgments, will have you conform.
Yet, my ignorance condemns me. My stupidity embarrasses me and, my foolishness makes me a jackass.
My complicity mocks my pretensions and my weakness makes me a hypocrite.
My tears run in secret and the aches of my heart, well, no one knows
I reach for the stars and slip-slide backward only to discover the hype may not be true.
Strangers in my house. Strangers in my midst. Strangers as my friends.
My quest to find my voice and the courage to be me
All around me. Strangers. Strangers. My company of Strangers.
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