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.

 

Patewood Lines. All Rights reserved 2020

Written by

Bethel

I am an apostate puritan and a lost soul, so to say. I am also an active researcher in law and artificial intelligence. Check me out on LinkedIn and my other website - www.ourmirandarights.com