CONTROL: A RATIONALE

So “normal’s” how things are when no one grows
Out of their brother’s hand-me-downs and ways.
Too much change – no, we can’t have that, God knows.

A normal boy gets by at school. His clothes
And haircut suit the general tone these days.
So normal’s how things are when no one grows

His hair too long, or paints his nails, or shows
An interest in stuff teachers call “a phase.”
Too much change – no, we can’t have that, God knows.

Some water’s deep. You wet more than your toes,
Get sucked in, and become one of the strays.
So normal’s how things are when no one goes

Far off the path, follows their untrained nose,
Ends up a headline in the birdcage trays.
Too much change can be dangerous, God knows.

Trust family. When in on you they close,
It’s for your good, despite how it dismays.
So normal’s how things are when no one grows.
Too much change – no, we can’t have that, God knows.


-- © 2010 by Jack Veasey


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I shouldn't have to say that this poem is intended to be facetious -- when I get didactic in the last stanza, I don't want people to really do what I'm saying they should. But I've been taken literally before when I didn't want to be, so -- this poem is a sarcastic comment on how I was treated when I was growing up.