EXPRESSION

You look prettier when you smile

Okay, I’ll smile for a little while

 It's really disingenuous, 

But sure, I’ll smile




Girls shouldn’t be too loud

Okay, I guess I'll tone it down

I just got really excited…

But sure, I’ll tone it down




Guys hate it when you nag

Okay, it’s not like I meant to

Was trying to make a point

I guess it didn’t come through




You need to try and sit still

Chill…

Try not to talk too much

But…

Be the 'neck' that bears the weight of the 'head'

Please stop.




What are you trying to say? That I shouldn’t have a voice?

I'm made of sugar and spice so I shouldn’t have a choice?

Why do I need to understand, accommodate, contemplate

I’ll be reduced to a pretty, smiling puppet at this rate!




I have a lot to say, and that shouldn’t be a crime

And some days I’ll look like I just sucked on a lime

I’m a person, with thoughts, ideas, as well as feelings

Don’t like who I am? I have no problem with you leaving 🙂

DISCLAIMER: PICTURE ARTWORK IS NOT MINE

IMPOSTER SYNDROME

 

I’ve been gazing up at the stars for too long

I forgot I was a slave to gravity

I wanted to levitate beyond my status

I wanted to be remembered

I thought I had what it took to shine in the galaxy

But no matter how high I jump, my feet find their way back to the ground

 

The wings I thought I was born with were feathers I stuck to my back with tar

As the scorching heat of the sun melts them away I fall

My bones break

I am humbled

 

Flying is for birds

Wishes belong in fairy tales

Dreams end when you wake up

A false sense of confidence is delusion

 

Those that end up with nothing did not grow up wishing to fail in life

Am I a failure?

Have I deceived people into believing a lie?

 

I said I wanted to be great

I forgot that great is great because not everyone is

I forgot that there are more than 6 billion people on this planet

What makes me any different?

 

Who am I that I should escape the normalcy of life?

Why should anyone notice me?

What is talent if not a cruel joke life plays to make you hope in vain for more?

I dreamed too big. I cast my net too wide.

 

Was it so bad that I wanted to be known?

Was it a crime to chase an unattainable dream?

Was it foolish to think that I was special?

Was I wrong to think I was destined for greatness?

 

An insignificant tombstone sits in an unremarkable graveyard

People pass by, reading the name with no recognition in their eyes

It was like I never existed in the first place.

 

😦 free form writing. I am aware there is no rhyme scheme. It just tumbled out of my brain and I left it that way.

by Omobola Olarewaju. Do not use without permission. Subject to copyright.

Artwork is not mine

 

GROWING UP

 

When I was a kid,

I was a handful.

I never had any trouble saying what I felt,

Never had any trouble doing what I wanted,

And I was never afraid of standing up to people bigger than myself

I was brave.

 

When I was a kid,

I loved the spotlight.

I was loud

I was obnoxious

And I never let anyone stand taller than me for more than two seconds

I was self-confident.

 

When I was a kid,

NO ONE could bully me.

But they tried really hard

They made me sit on the floor in the school bus

They called me names and hurled insults at my physical features

They would have had a better chance with sticks and stones.

 

But then I grew up.

Change is inevitable they say,

So I grew up.

I started thinking carefully before I talked and eventually stopped talking.

I started caring about what people would think so I stopped doing things.

And if you were one step higher than me, without trying I’d say “You win”

 

I grew up.

The spotlight terrified me

I was quiet

I was careful not to offend people with my personality.

I was so quick to decide that people were better than me without giving my talents a chance.

 

I grew up.

Sticks and stones couldn’t break my bones because I let words do the job for them.

Instead of not letting their insults about my appearance bother me I let them define me.

I walked with my head down,

I didn’t make eye contact

I didn’t want people to notice my vices so I didn’t let them notice my virtues either.

 

Grow up, don’t be childish, be an adult.

That’s what people say all the time.

But why is it that growing up often means shedding both the bad and the good parts of being a child?

The innocence, the unquestioning faith, the confidence

Why do most of us lose that when we grow up?

 

There is a modern saying that growing old is inevitable but growing up is a choice.

So, I choose to be a kid again; not in the childish sense.

But in the uninhibited sense.

I choose to be brave, self-confident and strong.

I choose never to grow up.

 

-POEM BY OMOBOLA OLAREWAJU. SUBJECT TO COPYRIGHT

 

 

*Experimenting with the concept of lost innocence in adulthood. DISCLAIMER: Art is not mine

 

DESTINY’S CHOICE

 

Everything in the universe was destined to be

Yet we may still be expected choose

I know I want you and you want me

Yet there is still a chance that we lose

 

Were you consequence or are you fate?

Will we have each other in the end?

Or will this burning flame turn to hate

Just another turn around the bend

 

Is this a decision that we must both make?

To grow as one or to retreat

Or is this just another drop in the lake

Of a destiny that is already complete?

 

I close my eyes and take a leap

Whether or not it is meant to be

If it is Destiny, she may at last let me keep

The heart that you offer to me

 

-POEM BY OMOBOLA OLAREWAJU. SUBJECT TO COPYRIGHT

 

*Playing with the concept of choice and destiny when it comes to romance.

DISCLAIMER: ART IS NOT MINE