The Strange and Ugly Utter Failure
They tell you that you can be yourself -
Just be nice, and kind, and loving,
Go to college, get good grades, don't throw your life away like that
In front of a computer typing all day.
A girl can't have a passion for writing,
can't have too much time staring at the screen. . .
You'll get headaches.
They tell you to do as you wish and follow your dreams -
Just make sure your dreams match their dreams
And what you do doesn't make them look bad
So a girl can't stand and watch the autumn leaves fall,
The wind caressing her face.
It's not right, they say.
They tell you to leave a mark behind, something to remember you by -
But it can't be an ugly mark or a misshapen mark
or blackened
or staining
or too big
or drawing attention
They may need to wash it out one day.
They tell you who you are supposed to be.
But I am not that.
I live a passion for words,
I stand and watch leaves fall,
I enjoy the wind across my face,
I make marks big as the ocean and black as the night,
staining their souls with permanent ebony brilliance.
To them it must seem I am the
strangest
ugliest
utter
failure
to have ever lived.
But I know different.
I am myself, and that is
Beautiful.