by Samuel Goldman

It doesn’t rain when I cry
Clouds don’t follow me like they do in the movies,
When I’m down, sad, and cold
There’s no downtrodden background music
Biding its time, playing across the pan-screen
I don’t get to burst instantaneously into song, while the people around me
Suddenly begin a synchronized dance routine that no one practiced
There will be no one on my front lawn with a fistful of pebbles
And a boombox with my favorite song playing quietly
The night will, in fact, end
And my parents do care if I run off with someone at 11:00 PM
Not to return until the early morn’ after crashing on their bed
Life is not an imitation of the sweet teenage love that
Hollywood loves to fabricate

How to combat the drowning reality?
Threatening to lure me to belief with its
Hook of fantasy until
I drown on
False hope
And
Illusions
of
Grandeur?

I will hold up against the suffocating
Crush of reality and its
Lack of things
Going
My
Way

I will put on my headphones and
Drown reality in the sound waves
While singing along
Off-key

True, no one will dance in the street
And there will be no magic background music
But I can dance by myself
And my own music
Will serve
Well
Enough

I will wear my out-of-style
Secondhand
Clearance rack
Mass production
Jeans and tees
With pride

Self doubt will not rule me
And fear will not blind me

I will grin proudly while
Walking the halls
Ignoring stares and mocking laughter
Nothing and no one can hinder my
Hopes and dreams

It’s just that sometimes
We all
Need
A
Little
Push
Forward.