Empty Words

Empty words zing past empty ears:

“Did you hear So Andso broke her whatever?”

“Whatshis Face, like, totally fell down the stairs on blah blah blah.”

“OMG I was, like, laughing so hard, my head, like, literally exploded, LOL!”

People worry about the zombie apocalypse;

It’s already happened.

Only a few of us have survived,

Banded together, fought against the infection

That is the status quo.

Rebelled against normal,

Overthrown average,

Triumphed over plain. 

No, we aren’t hipsters.

No, we don’t post inspiring portraits of Starbucks.

They’re zombies who wear our skin,

Walk among us trying to blend in

And strike when our guard is down.

And failing miserably if you ask me.

Not that you would.

I am only a simple cog in the machine that is the resistance, after all.

Or am I?

After all, doesn’t each of us stand alone sometimes?

Fight in our own unique way?

Struggle to be ourselves

When the world tries to tell us our self isn’t good enough?

Isn’t right.  Isn’t their definition of perfect.

Why define our lives using someone else’s dictionary,

When we could write our own?

Why allow their narrow-minded darkness to douse our light?

After all, stereotypes, like rules

Were made to be broken.

Shattered. 

Reduced to shards by our refusal to fit the mold.

Don’t let the worst of your peers define who you are.

Don’t let those who can’t understand value determine your worth.

Just because they are blind to your radiance doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

Just look around you

And see how brightly the faces you love shine.

Take a second to watch them absorb your light

And reflect it back to you.

Like us, you are alive.

You are not a zombie,

Devoid of personality and warmth.

Instead, you burn with defiance

And brush their empty words away, emerging from the void unscathed.

In a world where words are bullets

And mouths are machine guns;

Where love is an amaranth, rare, beautiful, and never fading

And hate is a dandelion, plentiful, ugly, and temporary

You fight on.