This poem was written outside the regular prompt calls and posted as part of a swap with
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janetmiles. It also fills the Questioning square in
my 6-2-25 card for the Pride Fest Bingo. It belongs to the series A Poesy of Obscure Sorrows.
"Koinophobia"-- the fear that you've lived an ordinary life
Everyone wonders, sometimes,
if they're living the life that
they were meant to live.
You should be able
to question yourself
and get an answer.
Are you doing what
you feel called to do?
Are you doing things
that make a difference?
What nobody else can do?
Or are you just going through
the motions because it's expected?
If you don't feel that you are on
the right path, then the solution
is simple: just change course.
Ask yourself what you are
meant to be doing, search
for that feeling deep inside.
And then go do it.
That alone will make
you far from ordinary.
So few people have
the courage to make
that leap of faith
in themselves.
Along the way,
of course, you can
take more steps
to stand out, to be
something epic.
You might travel
the world, take up
a dangerous sport,
learn how to speak
endangered languages.
Maybe you feel compelled
to teach peace and attempt
to solve dreadful conflicts.
You might be even drawn
to save lives, and that will
always make a difference.
Perhaps you want people
to see at a glance that you
are not ordinary, so you dye
your hair, tattoo your skin,
wear unusual jewelry or
clothes of fanciful designs.
It doesn't matter how you
express yourself and all of
the amazing things about you.
It only matters that you are
your true, authentic self.
And that's never ordinary.
* * *
The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig, p. 49. Simon & Schuster, 2021.
This comes after "
Nementia."
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