ALIEN FACES
They’re all around but not like me
I wear a mask and try so hard
To learn their words, the things they say
To copy faces, games they play
Subtle failings mark me out
But still I try to be like them
So hard to whistle, tie a lace
Alone I knot and not again
And purse my lips to no avail
And all the effort, borrowed smiles
Make no difference, emphasize
That I am different, don’t fit in
‘A retard from the loony bin’
I’m much too stupid, much too bright
I don’t play games, don’t want to fight
I come from someplace, not from here
A stranger in this stranger land
A place called Normal in a tongue
I don’t quite speak or understand
Rock my head and count the tiles
Upon the ceiling or the lights
Which sweep across the twilight skies
A cosmos in a grain of sand
That they don’t see or comprehend
Safe in my world, my perfect place
Behind the mask that hides my face
And from the windows to my soul
The lights shine bright, but no one’s home
25 September 2018