Skilled in the art of adaptation
at a whim, I change and shift;
existing for the approval of others
used to think this was my gift.
“Who you are isn’t enough”
from early on is what I’ve been taught;
so, I sacrifice my individuality
upon the altar of others’ thoughts.
But being an everyone to everybody
makes me a nobody to myself;
can there be pain that runs deeper
than being a book on someone else’s shelf?
I long just to be me
to matter, to be true;
I guess I need someone to say –
“It’s okay to just be you.”