Outre: A Poem

Bright lights frighten
The Hermit.

Cheer repulses
The Leper.

Yet

All of them process into the Odditorium:

The crippled and the lame,
The queer and the meek,

The short and the fat,
The ugly and the weak,

The skinny and the intellectual,
The freckled and the geek,

Too poor or too weird,
Some kinda sideshow freak.

Just vainglorious soldiers
Mutants in the gene pool

Might
as well
be something
out of
H.P. Lovecraft.

The Harlequin jumps onstage,
A cardboard megaphone in hand:

"Rise! Arise from slumber!

Freaks everywhere unite!

Don’t
change
your
essential nature
to try to fit in
with what others try
to shape
you
into being.

You already are someone.
Listen to your heart,
and follow your instincts
on the path
you will take
in this life.

Let
Your
Heart
Lead.

And try not
to let it lead you
into
too much
plastic surgery.

Learn to
love
yourself
as you are:
Hunchbacked,
Chicken legs,
Flipper hands,
and all."

Copyright © 2005 David Tarleton