Noteworthy

 

In some ways it's my fault, 

But mostly it's not. 

Mostly to blame is 

The place I grew up. 

The people around me 

All had their own plans 

Of ambitious, intelligent 

Goals to demand. 

Their agendas were based on 

Best interests of course, 

And they'd never imagine 

My deeds were all forced. 

But they wouldn't accept 

The ways I liked to think, 

And when I tried to explain it, 

Their smiles would sink. 

Because who wants a daughter 

With no career map? 

With nothing but fanciful dreams to unwrap? 

A girl whose big goal is to lay on a boat 

And wander through ghost towns in places remote? 

This starry-eyed wanderer will fall off track 

And lose the potential that others have lacked. 

So don't let distractions veer her away 

From the future we know she deserves to display. 

So I stood in line 

And followed their minds, 

Resisted in ways that I could all the time, 

But the days were so few 

When I felt like me, 

And I had to give up on poetry. 

I hope you can forgive me, 

I found it again, 

After decades of starving myself from the pen. 

My case is hopeless. 

I'll never be cured 

From the sordid temptation of toying with words. 

But it won't disappoint you 

That I'm a lost cause, 

That I couldn't stick to societal laws, 

For now I'm worth seeing, 

Now I can feel 

My spirit untethered, untamed and unreal, 

And I'm here to show you, 

I'm here to be 

A screaming example of one who broke free.