Apr 2019
Identity proceeds who I am
the statement declared for all
though that measure is not my own
instead a response by the world
when normality is the base
deviation is exclaimed
with the yell of pure bliss
or dismay filled with hate
these reactions are the same
though one is welcomed more
for the aid implied within
while the other discourages
each is based on a roar
volume above the regular
with a root cause of the shift
assuming detours from the rule
these measures most assume
in the realms of identity
attraction stated as a course
are seen aberrant, outside the curve
even though there is no shift
humanity is still operative
wanting something the rest possess
permission to joyfully exist
nothing more is asked for
this simple want now implored
to live with both joy and pain
each assigned in their due time
without buffering from the crowd
identity bringing on the storm
in their place I seek the sun
to live as one with dull regard.
© 2019. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved. 20190407.
the statement declared for all
though that measure is not my own
instead a response by the world
when normality is the base
deviation is exclaimed
with the yell of pure bliss
or dismay filled with hate
these reactions are the same
though one is welcomed more
for the aid implied within
while the other discourages
each is based on a roar
volume above the regular
with a root cause of the shift
assuming detours from the rule
these measures most assume
in the realms of identity
attraction stated as a course
are seen aberrant, outside the curve
even though there is no shift
humanity is still operative
wanting something the rest possess
permission to joyfully exist
nothing more is asked for
this simple want now implored
to live with both joy and pain
each assigned in their due time
without buffering from the crowd
identity bringing on the storm
in their place I seek the sun
to live as one with dull regard.
© 2019. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved. 20190407.
The poem “Dull Regard” is a combination of self-awareness and acknowledgment of society’s foibles when it comes to alternative lives. Regarding the self, I find myself wondering if people exist on the alternative spectrums. These considerations are peaked by their behavior, dress, or associations. I then remind myself that it does not matter. Society pulls the same tricks. There is much excitement, good and bad, over people being outside the normative. There is a place for this, as the good can overcome the bad. I’m not asking myself, or society, to forget about the minority. Instead, I wonder how it would be if the hoopla didn’t have to occur.
