Words lose their meaning through
lies and deception.
They begin as mere plain text with a definition to follow,
but soon are tossed around in a batter of
generously margined synonyms and false connotations.
Their definitions are erased, and
colors are added,
font style is changed,
meaning becomes untrue.
These words become segregated into
the words that are only for the good guys and
the words that are only for the bad guys.

People can be just the same.

That girl over there is good.
But with the parties she throws
and the people she hangs around,
people see her as extravagant.

That boy you saw the other day is smart.
But through his passive boasts of intelligence
and publicly acclaimed unique solutions to problems,
people see him as a genius.

But I,

I
am myself.
I am authentic, and I
do nothing with the bells and whistles society gives to me.
The attractive decorations are left aside.
I don’t need to dress up
my name or my image or my status.
I don’t need to hide
the fact that I’m a nerd.
I don’t need to deny
the worries I may have about the future.

I am as people see me, and
I come as I am.