english,

Literary: How Daft

9/11/2018 08:09:00 PM Media Center 0 Comments

I was told I was too quiet, too different.



So I talked louder,

Laughed more,

Made sure to be heard.



Then suddenly I was too loud.

Too much.



“Where’s your poise?”

“You’re a lady, act like one.”



So I tried to be soft, returned to my roots.

Made myself gentler, kept my mouth shut.



But still, they weren’t satisfied.

“Impressionable”, they said of me.



So I closed down.

Turned hard like stone.

Colder than ice.

Eyes ever distant,

But ears listening all the while.



Always too much or too little,

In their eyes and in their ears



So I tried to take control

Of who I was and who I’d be

Of how I’d look and how I’d speak



Now I understand

how rather daft it was

Silly, even

To muffle my own voice

Just to listen to their hushed murmurs

And unsure whispers.