by NIAYA
You’re in a perfect, arrow line
people, front to back, stand all around you
the moment someone steps out of that
straight line, forcing a slight hump, you
are the outlier, you are the sour taste
on everyone’s bland tongue. The moment
I knew I was out of line with the
rest of my family. Our secluded arrow
line, is when I discovered I hated
sports but I loved storytelling…I
love liberating lonely lives with
lifting words of encouragement. I
made a camel’s hump in the straight
line when I picked up a Stephen King
book and a pen to annotate instead of
a basketball and a jersey. I am here
to tell the audience of distant taste,
that making that change in the “natural”
formation of my family tree, caused a
unbelievable balance, yet understanding
souls I never known existed.