I Never Wanted to Be the Fool

A Poem

I never wanted to be like this.

I wanted to be like everyone else—

to fit in, to adapt,
to stay within the lines.

But the crowd was suffocating.

Too much for me.

So this is what I became.

I never wanted to be the fool,

the buzzkill,
the asshole who thinks he knows it all
when I feel just as lost inside.

But someone has to take that role.

Someone has to ask
the questions that unsettle,

to say out loud
what we all live in silence—

what we don’t even know
how to name.

I never wanted to be different.

I’m not.

Just an extension of life,
one side of the coin.

I never wanted to expose my life,

my past,
my wounds.

I hate talking about myself.

Who really cares
about the life of an old fool?

I never wanted to tell my story.
I don’t like it.
But a sense of duty pushed me into it—

my arrogance,
a veil over my devotion:

clarity.

But who am I
to claim I can guide others
when my own path is still unclear?

My life isn’t a show.

Not interesting enough for that.

If I speak about it,
it’s only
because it’s the only one I know.

Of course, you might call it arrogance.

But,

if my life bothers you,

maybe it feels
like I’m telling yours.

Maybe you recognized yourself.
Maybe you caught a glimpse
in the mirror.

I’m probably rambling.

Maybe I’m losing it.

I never wanted to be the fool,

But I accept it.

With joy.

And faith

in you.

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Welcome to THE LAB ROOM,

a space where I write from the inside.

Here, I will share my poems shaped by observation—
by life, sometimes intimate, sometimes uncertain.

May you see a little bit of yourself, in these mirrors !

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With clarity,
The Mirror Room
Odel A.