Poem Of The Month

Belonging
By S. Swan

All my life, I wanted to belong,
but I didn’t.

I didn’t belong in my family,
in my school,
in my work,
in my life.

It didn’t matter,
how much I tried to fit in.

It didn’t matter.
If I talked, I was hushed,
and yet I was stepped on, when I was quiet.

It didn’t matter.
If I laughed, it was questioned,
and yet I was mocked when I cried.

It just didn’t matter.
How I dressed,
my likes or dislikes,
what I felt or wanted.

I was never good enough.
I was either too smart, or not enough.
I was too different to be pretty.
I simply didn’t fit in.
To belong, you have to fit,
and I didn’t.

In my sorrow, in my loneliness,
I learned to embrace myself.
I learned acceptance.
I learned to be me,
even if I didn’t fit in.

I learned to speak up,
and I stood up for myself.
I learned to express my feelings,
and I stood up for myself.
I learned to do what I like, not what I dislike, and I stood up for myself.
It is enough to be me, just me,
and I stood up in my loneliness no more.

For then, I found myself
included, part of a community,
belonging once and for all.