Babel

[Therese Aline]

Babel

I feel like an alien, so different and strange
Like learning a language, but elusive it remains
Everyone speaks a code, they know it by heart
Unaware that there is one, but fluent in it just the same

Cast into the pool of Olympic swimmers, I try to mimic the strokes

I'm a liar, a fake
I know nothing of what I try to be
Can you tell? Can you see? An impersonator within your midst

Is it like a stutter, a limp? An obvious imperfection?
Is it like a gash on my face, obtrusive and impossible to ignore?

Is optimism deceit and pessimism truth?
Is coping the same as overcoming, or is it just problems swept under the rug?

Am I broken into pieces? Where is the glue?
Am I shattered into crumbs that I feebly try to put back together
like a fly on fly paper destroying it's body with every attempt to escape?

For so long I felt better, but maybe I'm not
Improved perhaps, but still damaged just the same

With each new challenge my scars rise up
Reminders of a fragmented person and life
A program default on every computer
File not found, cannot compute