My house is messy, that’s what they say,

They say I should tidy and put things away.

That my clothing is odd and the colours don’t match,

That my style is wrong and I’m not a good catch.

They tell me it’s wrong to eat muesli for tea,

To eat with my family of cats on my knee.

That people will stare if I sing on the bus.

To stop being ‘me’ and start being an ‘us’…

I don’t understand why I can’t pick the flowers

Or gaze at the stars for hours and hours…

And what’s wrong with laughing at things I find funny?

Of having no TV and no need for money..

What’s wrong with spending my days all alone,

Without needing people, computers or phones?

Of finding life’s pleasures in things that are small,

Like sunshine through leaves and patterns on walls.

In singing to plants and communing with birds,

Of living a life that is lived beyond words…

My life is different, that’s what they say.

How can I tell them I like it this way…

© Telene Clarke 2014