Bending Normal

Rules, they put up barbwire
and I’m hell bent on getting cut,
lining up for absolutes is like
drinking Kool-Aid with Jim Jones.

Oh I look suburban enough,
two dimes in my pocket, conformed enough,
but I cut my teeth on bending normal.

I was the fat child jumping hoops until
I cried enough tears to stop giving a damn.
Kids either picked on me or didn’t pick me.
There’s a lot to see when you’re on the outside.

People have been tossing up “You’re weird” as far back
as when name calling got its first number 2 pencil.
I have too many voices in my head to worry about
those who suffer from lost imaginations.

When people are planted in their chairs,
I am the one dancing alone in the middle of the room.
Oh I know how to rein it in, calm it down, sit still, listen,
but I also know how to bolt when the room gets too stiff
to step outside the lines…Life is too short to not break crayons.


 ©Susie Clevenger 2016

Day 26 #NaPoWriMo 2016

I found this poem from 2016 on my blog in drafts. For some reason I never posted it. 

Real Toads ~ The Tuesday Platform

Comments

Julian said…
Your words run so true to life in your poem.
Carrie Van Horn said…
I Love love love this one Susie!!! I can so relate to it, and I love the powerful message it carries with it! We must not be cattle that go with the flow to the pasture, we need to bend normal. I love the imagery, my favorite is the first one, just amazing writing here!! Can't believe it was lost in the drafts. So glad you found it!
Sanaa Rizvi said…
I am so glad you posted this poem, Susie.💞 It's not easy being a person who's different and who always stands out from the crowd. The world shuns people like us..(maybe because they are afraid and don't fully understand us) but at the end of the day, we know we are better off without them because we have learned to love and accept ourselves.💞
brudberg said…
The idea of drinking Cool-Aid with Jim Jones makes me shiver... I much rather spend my time dancing all alone.
hyperCRYPTICal said…
So glad you found your words Susie - they resonate!
Tis true we see so much when on the outside looking in. Here's to colouring outside the lines!
Anna :o]
I love this! This line is amazing "Life is too short to not break crayons."
Rommy said…
I try not to scare the normals too much ;) But I certainly won't change myself for their comfort either.
tonispencer said…
Life's to short not to break crayons or....not to color outside the lines or to color the hair of people purple and green...I too would rather spend my time dancing alone instead of taking that fatal Kool Aid smile into myself. Super poem! I was the kid who was always on the fringes, always being ignored. I liked it that way!
Gillena Cox said…
"but I cut my teeth on bending normal."

What a phrase!!!
This was one fiesty write

Much💖love