Where I Live Poem by RIC BASTASA

i've wanted to clothe myself
with the shining armor
i made myself choose masks
worn some and faced the crowd

somehow i did not like it
for who wants not to be one's self?
after the event i regretted having spoken
for others said what was best
but i didn't or perhaps i couldn't

so now is the time to be naked
and display the mole behind my chest
for them to remember
that i was and will always be different
that i was born not to be admired
but just to be dispensable
to be dismissed as nothing but a mere idea

on this new understanding
perhaps i can dwell satisfactorily
in the silence of this tower.