Free Verse Poem: Little Boxes

   In the wake of the disappointing results of the 2016 election I have felt compelled to write down my feelings.

"Little Boxes"

I envy those who live in little boxes,

Your world is simple, clean cut, black and white,

No broad spectrum,

No flavor,

Just a void of dull normalcy,

Ignorance is often called bliss;

It's also dark,

Not one star, not one constellation to inspire dreams,

So you're always filled with fear,

Anything new and different sparks hatred,

Blind mole rats squealing in shock as the light hits their milky white eyes so you shut it out;

I used to live in a box like you,

But I chafed, I felt sick, I couldn't breathe,

I was suffocating in that black nothing,

Then a rainbow light streamed through

and I grabbed it then broke free;

My world is chaotic,

A riot of color in a world of gray,

So filled with different, fantastical things,

Creatures big and small, white and black,

Brown, yellow, and red,

So full of color I'm sick with joy;

Now you're trying to shove me back,

Back into my little box just like you,

But I won't go in,

I won't go gently, I won't go silently,

I am not one but many;

So try as you might to force us back

into our little boxes filled with starless darkness,

With no hope, no chance of survival,

Wanting to suffocate us,

We won't go;

We are here and we are loud

And you will not stuff us into your little boxes.

The night is often darkest before the dawn...

    For those who feel disheartened this election do not lose hope. You are a beautiful soul even more so because you do not fit society's so called norms. It will be a dark road ahead but you are not alone. Never apologize for who you are.