NOT EVERYONE IS ME

Not everyone is me and I’m certainly not everyone
They’re supposedly unique but I’m definitely unlike anyone
Compare myself with an animal, you insist?
Well, that creature simply does not exist
Used to want to bed in with all the others
To lay alongside them beneath the same covers
Grew up shy, feeling awkward and odd
Often left playing alone, just me on my tod
Whether to act like they did, sometimes I’d rehearse
How to make myself fit in and lift this weirdo’s curse

Not everyone is me; I eventually accepted
To stay true to myself and not to what they expected
Troubled childhood memories that long haunted me
Banished to the back of mind by a moment’s clarity
This weirdo’s curse may in fact be my blessing
Loving how my peculiar ways leave them guessing
Being all me, all the time remains a work in progress
Thankfully now, I no longer feel hopeless
Perhaps I’m special or maybe I’m just strange
Whichever way they see it, I refuse to change

K.G. says…

Not many of my poems convey my inner most thoughts and feelings from start to finish. In fact when writing, I’m often able to position myself in scenarios and empathise with emotions I haven’t experienced deeply. Don’t ask me how; it just happens somehow.

This piece, however, is different. It’s one of the sincerest expressions of my true feelings. The subject matter has long been a recurring thought in my mind, particularly when I was younger. It’s something I’ve learned to embrace and hopefully it can help others to accept themselves for how they are. It’s perfectly fine to have quirks and be different to everyone else. Being “normal” is so common.

PRODIGAL PRINCE

How’s a young prince supposed to embrace his destiny
If the old king isn’t around to bestow a legacy
A prince who knows not what he was born to be
Growing up in the shadows of a throne left empty
Left doubting his birth right to the monarchy
Made to believe his place lies lowly in life’s hierarchy

How’s a prince supposed to know his mother is queenly
If the king isn’t around to rule with her royally
To demonstrate how to treat his future consort properly
Can the prince then raise his own heirs differently
Although his predecessor abdicated so cowardly
He’s somehow expected to battle his demons bravely

A student learns and surpasses his master eventually
But a stem without roots is doomed to wither fruitlessly
Kingdoms fall when kings and queens shirk their duty
Through it all, the kingdom that suffers most is family

K.G. says…

How does a boy learn to be a man without having one to look up to and teach him? How does he understand where he came from if that point of reference isn’t there? The importance of a parent’s presence in their child’s life cannot be understated.

Not everyone is fortunate enough to grow up with the presence of both parents. Without the guiding influence of a parent, the offspring is left to his/her own devices to figure out the tough challenges life presents. Consequently, this often leads to the child making wrong choices and doubting their self and can potentially enable others to take advantage.

NO CHILD IS BORN A VILLAIN

No child is born a villain
No preconceptions of dishonesty and killing
Moulded instead by traumas and teachings
As strife skews perceptions and feelings
Driven to leave behind unpleasant legacies
Pain makes the heart beat at frantic frequencies
Causing the mind to delve in dark fantasies
That brew hatred and wicked tendencies

No child is ever born evil
Rather, a warped world changes people
Same world which punishes the feeble
And pierces innocence with its poisoned needle
Villainy is a curse that society created
Through mankind’s immoralities regenerated
Conscience increasingly becomes understated
Whilst dark arts are exhibited and exonerated

K.G. says…

One of the most important jobs we ever have in our lives is how we raise children. Whether you decide not to have children or never get the opportunity to become a parent or guardian, the responsibility falls on every adult to set a good example for young people.

We learned our mother tongues by hearing and mimicking the languages spoken by grown ups. In a similar vein, minors often imitate and pick up on the behaviours and attitudes they see around them. Rather than writing off some young individuals as “lost causes”, we, as adults, should instead consider what we can do to positively influence their outlook as well as the environment they’re growing up in.

DYING DREAM

Despite the innocence and optimism of youth
Yearning for a time when hardship will soothe
In comes the learning of discomforting truth
Nefariously dashing hopes in a manner uncouth
Growing wise induces pain like the wisdom tooth

Daring to believe that one day all will be better
Rainstorms flood fantasies as tears get wetter
Eons pass by while soft skin toughens to leather
Ambition become inhibition, curbed by a fetter
Mourn in silence for the disenchanted go-getter

K.G. says…

You saw what I did there, right? From a creative perspective, this is one of the poems I’m most proud of because it was more challenging to complete than I anticipated. I’d set myself the task of writing a piece in which the title would be spelt using the first letters of every line – and it also had to rhyme.

There is also meaning beyond its aesthetic appeal. As most of us get older, many of the high hopes we once had gradually become diluted and fade. Reality bites and life comes at us fast. We grow older to become less carefree and more cautious. Although we go on to achieve other things, there remain aspects of life we wished had (or expected to) turn out differently. I wanted to try and capture the feeling associated with unfulfilled dreams.