So, let try this again,
He says with an exasperated
tone, the same one
She’s heard too many times.
Clenching her teeth,
She smiles and concedes.
Some things aren’t worth
Fighting over.
She plans her future.
I used to let everyone
Else’s voice supersede mine,
Lent more credence to
What they said than
Anything I might have
Been thinking, and it
Paid off in an overwhelming
Windfall of misery and
Inauthenticity, having left
The real me languishing by
The wayside while I plodded
Ahead wearing someone else’s
Persona and venturing further
Away from the real me,
An indistinct whisper in
A cacophonous gale,
Alone and unindividuated.
No matter what happens,
How many setbacks
Present themselves to
Mock his mettle,
He continues his forward
Movement, remembering
That what matters is
Being on his path.
She remembers
The faces telling
Her who she is
And what she should do,
Messages interpreted
As truth rather
Than opinion.
Not sure she
Can do it,
She nevertheless
Gives it a try
And finds out that
She was capable of it
The whole time.
Dreams unrealized
Yet still
Vibrant.
Experiences anticipated,
Moments of elation,
Excitement.
Respite from the
Monotony,
Welcome movement.
Talking about
All the things
That will be.
Future triumphs
Engendered deliberately,
Hopefully.
I never realized I
Was that way until
It happened, life being
What it is, introducing
Its sundry twists and turns,
But I became aware of
Who I used to be, as well as
Who I am today, a person
I used to tacitly loathe
Or one I can look at in
The mirror without wincing.
I go to darker places
Where people avert
Their gazes and hastily
Usher themselves to
The safety of their
Unexamined existences.
I live on the fringes,
Stoking questions others
Lock away in airtight
Receptacles,
Attempted smothering.
I am difficult to behold,
A gruesome blight on a
Beautiful artificial landscape,
Searing with veracity
Unacknowledged.
There was never a shortage
Of well-meaning and broken
People eager to tell here
What she should do,
Projecting their own fears
And failures on her and
Discounting her dreams.
It would take many years
Of living someone else’s
Life for her to figure out
That the only voice that
Mattered was hers and that
She could follow her own path.
She’s not
Like everyone else.
She has courage
And insight.
She creates worlds
No one else has.
She doesn’t follow
Trends or fads.
She listens to
Her own voice.
