Challenge
help answer one of philosophy's greatest questions: are you defined more by the keys you've lost than by the neighbors you have?
losing keys, neighbors that may or may not conspire against you. which of these inevitablities defines you more prominently?
neighborhood walks
they define me
with their eyes
my personality
dissected and torn
to fit their narrative.
they think i am
the crazy neighbor
because every street
needs a lunatic
in order to make us
feel a little more sane.
they tell me who
i am supposed to be
so i can better conform
to their reality.
so i will let them.
i will be the paranoid
neighbor who
the children avoid
because their daddies
said i'd try to snatch them.
i will take on
my role with dignity
because i know
they need me
in order to hide
from their own
insanity.
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