A Poem About Rules, That Doesn't Follow Any

30 9 18
                                    

Rules

They are meant to be a guide
A guide for children,
Who are trying to find themselves
A guide for teenagers,
So that they can learn and grow
A guide for adults,
So that they be good leaders
A guide for seniors,
So that they can be safe and happy

Rules

Created by the adults to form structure
Created to bring order to our lives
Created for the children,
For the teenagers, for the young adults,
For the grownups, and the elderly
Created for our peace

Rules

They were meant to be
They are meant to protect me
They are meant to protect my siblings
My family, and all others

Rules

They aren't always clean; pure
Some adults who are meant to be leaders
Use them not as guides for us but for
Power and authority for themselves
A way to put themselves ahead of others

Though every adult know how it feels
To be young and submissive
To blindly trust their superiors
And get a harsh reality check

Rules

A seemingly straight line from afar
But the closer you dare look
The more bumps and bends it has
So imperfect and skewed
That you will want take a step back
So you can see your perfect line

Rules

Are different wherever you go
Different in every country
Different in every job
Different in every school
Different in every home

Rules

The ones set in my house
By the adults I trust
Are simple for me and my siblings
Because we grew up with them
It's all we know

rules;

Don't make noise when you drink
It's disgusting

Don't talk at the table
It's disrespectful

Don't slouch in your chair
It's unsightly

Don't talk idle chatter
It's boring

Don't talk about anything to important
It's offensive

Don't love the same sex
It's sinful

Don't talk when someone else is talking within the same room as you
It's rude

Don't argue
It's not peaceful

Don't do anything noticeable
It's embarrassing

Rules

Things I have followed without a second thought
Because adults created them
And adults are trustworthy
But they make me abnormal

As we rehearse our lines
We reach the part where we argue
And I get quiet, as hard as I try
I can't speak, I don't know how to
Go on with an argument
Without admitting fault and shutting down

As we reach the last line that I dread
Where we have to talk simultaneously
And I unconsciously whisper
And stop halfway through
Because the rules clearly state
That if someone else is talking
I need to be quiet

I'm sitting in lunch, being laughed at
Because I had been eating pizza
With a fork and knife
A frown wanting to appear
But doesn't, it's not a skill I have
So I smile, like I'm laughing with them

And finally, when I see a cute guy
A flood of horrible thoughts
Swirl in me head, you're going to hell
So I walk away before...
Before what? I don't even know
Because I don't stick around

These rules

That I obey unconsciously
These rules that I must follow
Also follow me; ruin me
Leaving me, wondering; pondering

What rules am I supposed to follow,

And which do I follow

Which will leave me happy

And which will leave me drowning

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