(and so begins this never-ending debate...)
I happen to know.
Proven, REAL LIFE experience
I've somehow found.
I'm certain of one question
And its' answer at least,
How do I know?
Why, because,
NORMAL is everything but me.
"How is it now,
YOU suddenly know
Something we've already known?
Never proven, DREAM LIFE explanation
Without a need to be found.
We're certain of all questions
And every answer at least,
How do we know?
Why, because,
NORMAL is everyone like me."
Everyone NORMAL has problems
And great times of stress
In fact,
No one NORMAL is ever immune,
To any part of life's mess.
Tell me then,
Could it be true
That NORMAL helped
Make all of you
Ignorant to the suffering
Of so many unlike you,
To the places in life
Where you've never been to?
Because it's NORMAL
To turn our backs on
Those who are hungry and sad;
With nowhere to go
And when nothing is all
They've ever had.
Our homeless are sleeping
In beds stolen
From a NORMAL, successful, wealthy
Leftover dirt pile.
Thrown out along with
An ugly pair of shoes;
That none of you
Ever had to choose.
While it's NORMAL to claim
It's all due to choices
They've made,
How can anyone know
It's only their sins to blame?
Making such
Immediate and harsh
Judgments
When you have yet to learnEven their first name.
A NORMAL cruise control
Set to worry-free days,
In the latest Mercedes.
Such a fine style of living
When a full stomach
And a place to call home
Are certain luxuries
Some won't ever
Be privileged enough
To ever have known.
Maybe the real sin here,
Is the NORMAL refusal
To be a little more giving.
So NORMAL navigates on through,
And I barely get so much
As a glance
From any of you.
Appearing, pausing
In the manner of a still frame,
I happen to see a glimpse
Of NORMAL'S point of view.
An SUV window
Those bold letters
Yelling at me, too.
A slogan asking a question,
"WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?"
Ironic how His Words
Spoke so clearly
Yet all true meaning
We've somehow lost.
Ironic how He died
For every single one of us.
For?
Or Because Of?
You And Me?
He went against the NORMAL,
View of Society
You see.
So in the end,
So NORMAL were we,
We didn't even hesitate.
Crucifying Him
To that massive, torturous cross.
Yet He forgave us,
Yes, even me
Even you,
Here's another question,
"WHAT GOOD DOES HATE DO?"
As NORMAL preaches its' politics
To all who can hear
The hypocrisy speaks
Louder than crystal clear.
"Go get a job,
On your knees, get down.
And if one doesn't pay enough,
Well go and get two."
"Get off your lazy rear,
Even though
There's not one career
Left in your bankrupt, American town.
Once family-owned businesses,
Thrived on Main Street.
Now desolate and empty
Crumbling buildings of dreams;
Fought against Corporate Wal-mart,
No competition for billions of dollars,
And so was easily beat."
"It's time we overturned Roe v. Wade,
Ending all abortion.
I'm pro-life
The innocent without a voice;
For the unborn I must fight.
Although so many babies,
Are deathly sick and starving
And in this Country,
We all know
Health care is a privilege,
Not a right.
And it's Socialism for even
The smallest of a portion
Of tax dollars to go
To feed and keep healthy,
Our Nation's future,
Our very own children."
"Get off the welfare
And go to school.
Can't afford day care?
Well, sucks to be you.
I cast my vote
Cutting all funding
That helped keep your only lifeboat,
Even partially
Afloat.
Why does it seem to be
That everyone wants a handout,
From hardworking, NORMAL people like me?"
Just maybe,
All we really want
Is for your expensive shoe
To stop kicking us when we're down,
Stomping deeper, deepest
Beneath your ground.
A difficult realization,
I know,
To come to.
But is that really so hard
For NORMAL people like you?
I suppose it is,
When the heart of ignorance
Lives in bliss.
You don't see yourself
As being unkind.
So how can anyone
Realize any of this?
When walking around
In the dark,
With NORMAL slowly,
Making us even more blind.
"What is NORMAL anyway?"
I happen to know.
How do I have the answer?
Why, because, NORMAL
Is everyone like me.
You want the secret?
Here it is, listen closely
So you know down which path
The NORMAL people go."
I've heard this all
A thousand times before.
Still, I manage to force
A NORMAL, fake smile
Pretending to be enlightened
By another disillusioned giver
Of the utmost advice.
And nothing changes
As I follow along for awhile
Once again,
On NORMAL'S grand tour.
"It's so easy," you say,
But I notice you left
Those manipulated, puppet strings
Showing.
"Prioritize, de-clutter, laugh with a friend,
Relax with candles
In your bubble bath,
It'll give you your second wind."
"Schedule a date night
For you and your spouse.
Perhaps dinner,
Then a movie.
You won't even fight.
And forget rather soon
How your son was taken away,
And locked up in JUVIE."
"With all problems solved,
Now your marriage can last.
Don't smoke, eat healthy,
Oh the benefits you'll reap
And in between those three jobs,
Make sure, every night
To get eight hours of sleep."
"Take your kids on vacation,
They'll finally be happy.
When they see, in costume,
Smiling, waving, just for them
The famous Mickey Mouse.
They'll forget rather soon, too.
That the bank is still coming
To foreclose
On their house."
"Remember what's most important to you;
NORMAL'S APPEARANCE.
So touch up the paint,
Until your picket fence
Is whiter than white.
Remember,
Out with the old
And in with the new.
Completely re-do
Every room
In your two-story, NORMAL
Suburbian home.
You may start to worry
About all the expense,
But no one NORMAL ever said,
That the key
To ultimate happiness
Was free."
"Still feeling depressed?
Still feeling blue every day?
Just talk to your doctor
So he can prescribe for you
Something to make
That ABNORMAL feeling
Go away.
Now you can't sleep?
Overly anxious and stressed?
Not for long, because,
We have a pill for that, too."
"And any time your meds
Cease to work anymore,
We'll just up the dosage;
Gradually higher
Until it smashes into the sky.
You might be addicted,
But at least you can see
NORMAL'S face in the mirror,
With your own slowly fading
Away as you die."
Please tell me,
Why it is
An identical tune you all sing?
Such solutions as these
Only apply to the NORMAL ideal,
Of what we are all supposed to be.
And I already told you, so please
Understand that NORMAL
Is not me.
"Just try being NORMAL,
You'll like it, you'll see,"
Again you attempt to try
And convince me.
"Just try it, you'll see,
Like Sam I am
With the green eggs and ham."
I realize you're confused,
The moral of the story
I must stop to point out,
Although it's confusing for me, too.
When a small child
Can understand without a doubt
And a grown-up adult
Seems to not have a clue.
We shouldn't despise
That which is different
To us, seldom seen
Whether it's ham
Or some eggs
Assumed rotten
'Cause they look green.
Or whether it's people
Who don't seem to fit
Into NORMAL'S disguise.
If you would only
Give us a chance,
You'll see,
We're like Sam I Am
We don't give up
So easily.
Have you ever considered instead,
Perhaps we hold the key
And you an illusion
Of what NORMAL is supposed to be?
Maybe Sam I Am
Will give it one last shot
And offer you, once again,
A chance to try
Those green eggs and ham.
Let's hope he hasn't
Gone and run away
After years and years
Of no one listening
To anything he had to say.
Yet he always offered
His listening ear to all of you
And remembers like yesterday,
The words you all threw.
"I don't like you, Sam I Am"
"I don't like your green eggs and ham".
Acceptance is now
His greatest fear,
No one would just ever
For a moment, let him be.
Why can't we accept someone
Whose mind paints a different shade,
Like green, or blue,
Yellow, or tangerine,
More beautiful than NORMAL
Could ever dream to be.
NORMAL has no color
And so rejects
The unfamiliar.
Scribbling all over
The unique hues of green,
Covering up with pictures
Of what NORMAL wants instead,
The things NORMAL quite clearly
Has already said.
Even still, in the end,
NORMAL will never, ever
Defeat me.
~Sheena Leigh Sherrange
