ballad of an unwanted

We know only what we see, what we hear
And clearly, to you, I am a specter, untalking
You know nothing of whom you speak of
And yet you talk with such certainty about me,
Never even having let me truly speak.

And now, you think I must understand you,
Know your ambition, your fear, your troubles?
I owe you nothing, for you never gave me
The chance to be known, the chance to be discovered as I am.
You never even tried to see.

Instead, you began to conclude, prejudicially
That I am nothing but the other, the outsider
And that accepting me is corruption,
Is losing a battle, where force upon me normalcy
Never even having let me truly speak.

You lied about my wants, my dreams,
To your confidants, making them hate me
Under false conditions and false pretenses.
Am I really the monster you fear, or is it all a lie?
You never even tried to see.

I am not the death of your normalcy.
I am not the end of your war.
I am not your doll.
I am not your dog.

And to treat me like such is a fool’s game.
You’re being played in a battle of hate.
To you, the past be no artifact, the present hold no future,
And I am sick of pretending that you are fit to judge it.
It’s all the game of the people who pretend to know better.