Sestina - Be You

They say "Don't follow others, just be yourself,
Originality is key; it's all up to you".
They also say "Don't be a freak,
Don't hog all the attention,
Not everyone can be the best",
So what can we do?

After a millenia of being told what to do,
Being told exactly how to be yourself
it gets a little frustrating to be told we're all the best:
"Oh but it's you, no it's you, Of course it's you!"
That's enough, we're all either drowning or dying for attention,
Deprived of it, smothered in it, their opinion names us friend or freak.

"Who are you to call me a freak?"
We should say, and some of us do.
Some of us care not, while others strive for attention,
Hunger that feeds upon hunger, yearning for a truly acknowledged self.
How do you know what you really are? Who in you is the true you?
Which is the most moral in you, the smartest, the funniest, the best?

Once you've sorted through the rubble and pulled up your best,
Let's count on it not being accepted, and dubbed unflatteringly freak.
When your true persona is cast out like a leper, what can you do, just you?
What will you want to, or be willing to do
To have that cloying scent of conformity spritzed on the wrists, behind the ears of your true self?
To let it grow heady in the air, to let it dull you attention.

No, we should rejoice that our characters have caught negative attention
We may be free of expectations, to live as we see fit, our own version of "the best",
instead of being the self made by other, shaped by their callous forceful hands, choose yourself
A person molded by the gentle hands of truth, accept that persona whether it be familiar or freaky.
A life of choices and decision awaits, not acquiescence and "Yes, I guess that's what I'll do"'s,
A future according to you

Finally a chance to see what it is about you
That managed to catch our attention
What we saw in your eyes, what we thought you could do
Bringing out a thread, a wire, a spool full of your best,
A fabric spun of love, anger, contempt, and joy, made into a garment however freaky,
TO be worn by one with such thoughts as yourself.

Such a garment of you to steal or give away attention,
Maybe freaky, some of your best,
To show what it is you can do, all by yourself.

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