** I have been attempting to persuade my incredibly talented friend to set up a blog for some time now.  He is an amazing poet – his pieces are expressive and thought-provoking and deserve to be read/heard.  He made me a deal… If I were to post one of his poems on my blog and he received ‘any attention’, he would look into starting a poetry blog.  Help me persuade this talented young man to share his gift: like, share, comment, etcetera and help me show him how talented he really is.**

Fire and Desire

I just wanna be liked

Probably stemming from a time when I wasn’t the popular guy

When people referred to me as Steve Urkel

And you know how kids are; they say things just to irk you

Anything to provoke a response that fuels their inner most desire

To bring you down so that they may feel higher

It’s like an infectious greed and when those vampires smell blood

Then they must feed on essential nutrients like self esteem

And get full off of people’s need to be socially accepted

At that age, all you have is your name

Dragging it through the mud leaves an emotional stain that can’t be removed

No matter what amount of dial soap used, you can’t scrub off pain

It manifests inside your brain, seeps into your pores, enters your bloodstream

Attaches itself to your cell wall lining, creeps into your spine

Until you can’t stand up to the pain anymore

 

But let’s explore this desire to belong

Is it so strong that we forget self-worth?

Is it worth giving up on life, leaving suicide notes on social media sites?

Instead of fighting for what’s right because you have the right to be as you wanna be

Everyone has a different pedigree, so why should anyone be able to dog you out

Without cause or provocation, just a way to deal with the frustration of who they are

They probably see a lot of you in them

And that will not work with their set of friends

In turn they pick on the worst part of their personality

By reducing the mentality of what you think about yourself

Then maybe the oddness of them will shrink so they can hold on to lies told

Promoting an image that keeps them in line with the privileged

And far away from the have not’s

 

I have not an ounce of sympathy

For anyone that doesn’t have the decency to treat others as they would want to be treated

The golden rule has been tarnished by YouTube fanatics

Who believe idiosyncrasies should be filmed for all to see

To prey on the weak, meek, and timid

On the premise that they deserve it angers me to the core

I implore you.  IF you are a victim of this vindictive behavior

Don’t ignore YOU

Have the desire to let your fire shine brightly

And burn anyone that tries to extinguish it