“Everyone is special,”
is what they tell you.
“Be yourself—but not too much.”
If you think about it,
is what they tell you
what you should believe?
If you think about it,
it gets complicated.
What you should believe
you have to figure out.
It gets complicated,
living in the world.
You have to figure out
all life’s ambiguous instructions.
Living in the world?
It’s almost impossible to!
All life is ambiguous instructions.
Everyone is special?
It’s almost impossible to
be yourself. But not too much.
Jessy Randall’s collection of poems A Day in Boyland was a finalist for the Colorado Book Award. Her latest book is Injecting Dreams into Cows (Red Hen Press, 2012). Visit her home page for more information.