I am young and easily influenced to what people may say
Still I can’t help wondering why I just don’t fit in
I am told I am not normal and I shouldn’t behave that way
I am told not being normal really is a major sin
As I spend my life conforming being miserable without joy
Wishing I could wear red trousers change my hair to wearing dreads
Or just scream when people whisper and turn left when they turn right
Feeling envious of those brave enough I make friends with a “different” girl and boy
With their different looking hairstyle and their different colored threads
They tell me if I want to let myself be free I must put up a fight.
Still I find myself following and rules and doing as I am told
Get a job and pay my taxes, have a child and settle down
Will I ever end my normal life will I ever be so bold
Or will I spend my whole life feeling I am just about to drown
Then one day I made a decision to learn to speak up loud
Desperate for my daughter to grow up following her heart
I began to change the status quo and express my deepest thought
That instead of doing as I am told and following the crowd
I should follow what is right for me even if we grow apart
The sacrifice of what I lost was filled with pain and fraught
Today life is so happy and it’s filled with so much joy I am as different as I like and life takes on new meaning
Yes I’ve had moments of struggle when I questioned my whole ploy
Did I mess up my whole family with my freedom intervening
Then my children let me know how happy they are and fully self expressed
And I know beyond a shadow of doubt the change was worth the loss
So I focus on what’s great in life and how I am now free
I can tell myself despite the past I really am the best
Because not being normal means I am now the boss
I can now live the second half of my life enjoying being me.
Diane Corriette
June 2013
———————————— An Ode To Not Being Normal was written for today’s challenge over at daily prompt called “The Normal”
Is being “normal” — whatever that means to you — a good thing, or a bad thing? Neither?
http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/06/09/daily-prompt-normal/
Want to know how to write an ode? <== click the link