Oxygen and Potassium are OK
Tiny pieces of me are all you’ll get to see
because society claims “flawless” is what I’m supposed to be
so you’ll see my polished exterior
you can bet you’ll see my strengths
but it would be crazy for you to see my agony
it would be insane for you to see my rage or to see me disagree
You and me—everybody—are masterpieces but only half of us is showing
we’re only allowed attention if it’s a smile on our face we’re growing
Wait right there. That isn’t what we’re told.
“Be yourself, stand out and be bold”
Yeah those are the words you might be hearing;
if that’s the case you can’t honestly say you’re listening
If you paid attention you’d hear it the way it is
and it goes a little something like this
Be yourself but not too much
because anyone who’s someone other than “just like everyone”
is no one
Anyone who doesn’t fit the mold could spill over
and contaminate the minds around them
So I’ll be myself the way they want me to
I’ll sit pretty and give you a front row view
of my phony confidence, of my artificial bliss
Be yourself
but only nineteen milligrams of your seven gallons of self
because a milligram more might crack a beam in the system
and what are we without our conveyer belts, our beams, and our packagers
who box us up and slam labels on our exteriors
based on what the machine guesses is inside of us
But they’ve got me mixed up
because my label says I’m bleach when that couldn’t be farther from the truth
so by all means be yourself but never more than one one-hundredth of yourself
because we say you’re bleach so by God you had better at least
pretend
After all just think how scary it would be for me to simply be me
for dairy to simply be dairy;
instead it’s 1%, it’s 2%, it’s whole.
and it sounds scary I know but I am not me:
I am 1%, 2%, skim maybe but never whole
because that is 98% more of me than I am allowed
I am not a human being with complexities and differences, no
because the machine preaches labels so narrow
and I am defined by
what the machine believes to be inside of me
And the label might believe I am bleach
but the truth of the matter is I am more complex than that
I am carbon and hydrogen; I am oxygen and potassium
yet ironically the last thing I am is OK.