“normal is boring”
the button on my backpack
announced to the world
as I coursed through my youth
spiked red hair
pierced eyebrow
and brooding countenance
confirmed
I wanted nothing to do with
status quo but to prod and dissect it
upend conformity
bend the will of approval
until an unseen force
turned the whole world
inside out
froze us all in a state
of desperation
normal was lost
a thing we didn’t know we wanted
until we didn’t have it
and now the thought
we will never have it again
that button is in a box
in the back of a closet
I dig it out and pin it on
to wear around the house
normal is boring
and I welcome it
back
[Prompt 7: Write a poem exploring the word normal.]
I love the evolution of the speaker’s feelings toward “normal.” It’s an idea we’ve been encouraged to eschew, yet today we all long for it. Your poem captures this well.
I love this poem a lot! Rejecting the normal when it’s restricting but embracing the normal when it means we have a routine that we can rely on – very relatable. So many of us want “normal” lives but don’t want to be “normal” people!
This is such a good and surprising poem, the contrast between the past and present self are so well conveyed, and the re-discovery of the pin, brings the poem together in such a terrific way.