When I was young, I wished to be great.
I didn’t want to be:
Ordinary.
Mediocre.
Another collection of atoms in an endless universe.
I wanted to be extraordinary.
I longed to be something more.
A singer, a scientist, an astronaut.
As I grow older, society tells me: “Stay in line”
“Get a job and settle down”
“Don’t attempt to change the world”
And yet I still wish to be great,
Only to be confronted by this window,
This window of fear that appears before me.
Open the window. Climb through.
What if I fail? What if I succeed?
I am told, “Stay in line”
As this window of fear appears before me.
Is it my own fear? Theirs?
When I was young, I wished to be great.
But throughout all wishes,
And all of society’s pushes and pulls,
The only person who can be me,
Is myself.