Have you wandered lonely in a crowd?
Sat at gatherings and not been there
Heard incessant chatter without listening
Shut out din and bustle blaring around.
Given a smile that didn’t spread to your eyes
Just stretched your lips mechanically
Heard the hollow echo of your own laugh
Been embarrassed by involuntary tears
Swallowed a lump in your throat
Yet entertained with your “humor”
Been praised for the gift of the gab
Eaten compulsively at banquets
As the only good thing to do
Shriveled at ladies boasting of their home making skills
Their motherly duties
Disapproving promiscuity
Tolerated sloshed men with overbearing “chivalry”
Felt an emptiness stirring within
Numbness at your fingertips
A gnawing pain inside
Wistful longing
Fleeting memories
Been sported around and expected to perform
Heard people confidently reading you wrong
Making judgments guided by norms and sanity
And profound commonsense
Leading you to doubt yourself
Struggled to say the right things
Tempted to speak your mind
Watched with dismay as
Your laughter broke into sobs
Stared unseeingly at life whizzing past
Felt inadequate, incompetent
Stranded amidst humanity
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