I tied a hangman’s noose

Within the womb

Around my neck was slung

And from those gallows swung.

I was six days late

The pressure wouldn’t abate

I’ve always been

Afraid of change.

I came out looking blue

Foreshadowing how I’d feel

Writing this at all.

I was timid, I was quiet,

Sleeping days away.

Always compliant

Never outspoken.

Obedient, a good kid

They’d say.

Now looking back as a man

With fissures throughout my heart

I think it’s not that simple.

Never outspoken sure,

For every strongly expressed opinion

Was shouted, and frightened

This gentle child into quietness.

So I grew with roots reluctant

To claim soil another may one day want,

Older brothers younger sister

More abrasive than I.

I like tile they like sandpaper,

Every attempt to rough me up

Only made me smoother.

One day I was called to manhood

By nothing but necessity.

At an age that couldn’t be expected

To swing a hammer well.

Hell I couldn’t even swing a decision yet

How could I possibly step into shoes

Strangely unworn before

And with strength strike

The nail on the head.

I filled those shoes in time

Sometimes feeling room still

By my big toe.

I swung a decision,

I’d be the man I wanted to be

To be different than the example.

A timid trailblazer still covers ground,

A kite broken free may crash,

Or fly higher than ever imagined.

The world needs good men

I’ll fill that need or die trying,

She needed me to be more,

My soul began
To grow chest hair.

So that’s where I’m from

There’s my past laid out.

My future?

Well that’s up to me isn’t it.

– Vagabond Prophet