Invisible

Invisible,
she felt
from the time she was young
with flowing hair
and sad eyes
bright sometimes
yet distant

She reached out
or didn't
but it was still the same
Rejection
Forgotten
Silence
Only her voice
to carry her through darkness

"You're wrong," they said
You can't be you
She heard it enough
for her insides
to be a mix of shame,
regret, and defiance
"I want to be me," she cried out
I can't be anybody else

She didn't understand
why that was so hard
So blasphemous
Isn't uniqueness the truth?
Why must I be what you want?
Or make your choices?
Or live your life?

You won't love me anyway
No matter what I am
Invisible people are easily buried
Dug up when people need something good
Or an excuse to feel better
about their own sadness
their own rejection
their own undeveloped potential

So they think they can use you
like a tool
forgetting you are a person
with feelings
and a heart
and a longing for a true connection
that doesn't go away
because you don't contain
something the world values
like money, or prestige, a budding career
or popularity among caricatures

That was why she never joined their dance
Or found pleasure or truth in their words
They were empty
Emptier than the cave she dug for herself
And kept lit with her own inner essence

Invisible was better than seen
if it meant remaining true
to what she felt