drowning


wishing for a haven of silence,
but wishing is futile since you never really mean it.
is she strange?
is she the one standing outside looking in?
walk to the left,
pull in a little closer.
you have become ostracized…
ostracized
their independence is terrifying.
it makes you squeamish,
it makes you a little nauseous…
conform
it’s so simple and yet she refuses
normalcy is a word that sounds akin to violence.
unnatural,
and yet everyone slips a little sometimes.
we all slip sometimes…right?
you look at her with fear emanating from your eyes.
the bravado is pointless,
when we are all trying to survive,

who is really surviving?

you smile along with the group.
do you love them---have they become your shelter?
the protection you wear around your chest.
protecting a heart,
you never took the time to develop.
will you wear their admiration around your waist,
like a suede belt that has become fashionable.
should you discard their affection
when the season has run its course

wait

do you hear the tears of a culture lost
in the sea of vanity?
in the mirrored pools of your own narcissism
you drown…